St. Francois Xavier worried about new plan to protect Lake Manitoba property

With spring approaching, flooding concerns are rising in the rural municipality of St. Francois Xavier, just west of Winnipeg. 

Residents of the small community that lies on the north side of the Assiniboine River are worried they'll be washed out if the province increases water levels on the Assiniboine.

At a meeting last week, engineers revealed a KGS plan which recommends the province raise water levels to protect property on Lake Manitoba.

St. Francois Xavier resident Brian Wolfe said the proposed increase will flood his two acres again.

Wolfe said he recently spent $50,000 repairing the damage and building a dike, a structure that could be overtopped if the province goes ahead with the recommendation. 

"It's terrible," he said. "It's like, we don't feel comfortable going forward, doing anything to our property at this point, because of potential flooding again."

Wolfe agrees something has to change for residents on the shores of Lake Manitoba.

But flooding him and his neighbours again, he said, is not the solution.

"You can't sacrifice one area for another," he said. "That's not fair. We haven't been given any indication of what kind of compensation is going to be offered [or] what kind of diking assistance is going to be offered."

Wolfe wants the province to come up with a better long-term plan for the entire flood zone.

The reeve of the RM agrees. 

Dwayne Clark said if the province goes with KGS study, it will cost a lot.

Clark said 500 homes in the RM of St. Francois Xavier and in the RM Cartier may need to be diked or raised, and another 22 might have to be expropriated.

"There will be a lot of lost revenue for the municipality," he said. "There'll be decreased investment for our municipality."

Officials with KGS and the province declined to comment on the study, saying its still a work in progress.