Provincial crews open the Lake St. Martin emergency channel last summer. (GOVERNMENT OF MANITOBA)
Manitoba’s Lake St. Martin emergency outlet channel will begin to close this week.
The province sought temporarily authorization from the federal government to open the channel last June following increased rainfall amounts.
The current level of Lake St. Martin is 801 feet and is expected to drop to 800.1 ft. by freeze-up, within the desired operating range.
The emergency outlet channel was built during the 2011 flood to drain flood water from Lake St. Martin and Lake Manitoba.
To close off the channel and stop the flow of water, rock fill will be pushed across the channel. The province says environmental monitoring will take place during the closure process to minimize effects to local habitat.
Fisheries and Oceans Canada would have allowed the province to continue operating the channel until its authorization expired on August 31.
