NDP say they weren't trying to keep floodway report under wraps

Manitoba's New Democrats say they had no intention ofkeeping a floodway reportunder wraps while they were still in power.

In August 2015, a panelof consultants completed an NDP-commissionedreviewof floodway operations. The review concluded the Red River Floodway should not be used during the summer to keep Winnipeg'sriverwalk dry and also made recommendations about the operationof the floodway, as well as the Portage Diversion, theFairford River Control Structure and the Lake Manitoba-Lake St. Martin channel.

Manitoba's Progressive Conservatives published the study this year, after they assumedpower.

The NDP contend they planned to hold consultations about the study before they made it public.

• No summer floodway use to control Winnipeg river levels: report

"The report says the use of the floodway is a bad idea but doesn't completely rule it out.However, we didn't want to shut the door on possible summer use of the floodway," NDP spokeswoman Rachel Morgan said in a statement.

"Instead, we wanted to hold further consultations with all affected stakeholders, including the City of Winnipeg, the Forks-North Portage partnership, municipalities south of the city and property owners.

"We felt consultations, based on the report, might have found a way forward that would permit some use of the Floodway to help keep the riverwalk dry more often. Unfortunately, we were not able to arrange those consultations prior to the election."

Former Manitoba premier Greg Selinger pledged to look into the summer use of the floodway in 2009, when he was vying to replace Gary Doer as Manitoba's NDP leader. The Selingergovernment commissioned the floodway review in 2013.

In2015, Fort Rouge-East Fort Garry Coun. Jenny Gerbasi a card-carrying NDP member called on Selinger to follow through on his pledge.

• Use Red River Floodway to save Forks' riverwalk, Gerbasi says

Manitoba Infrastructure MinisterBlaine Pedersen, the PC MLA for Midland, declined to theorize why the NDP did not publish the report.

He said he decided to make the review public after he was told about its existence on July 15, 2016, 11 months after the study was completed.

"It came across my desk after I became minister and (I) reviewed it and you know, openness and transparency. It was posted online," he said in an interview in his Manitoba Legislature office.

Winnipeg Mayor Brian Bowman, meanwhile,gently chided the province for the delay in the review's release.

"Look, greater openness and transparency is always something I think benefits the population and public discourse," he told reporters at city hall.

Bowman said he plans to meet with the province and The Forks to see what can be done about summer flooding. Paul Jordan, CEO of The Forks, favours better water-management practices over raising the level of the riverwalk.

New rules proposed forPortage Diversion

The floodway review, meanwhile,made a total of21 operating recommendations. They include several means ofoperatingthe Red River Floodway more quickly.

They also includeproposed new Portage Diversion operating rules that would better balance the impacts of Assiniboine River flooding on Lake Manitoba property owners and those located along the Assiniboineeast of Portage la Prairie.

For example, more water would be sent downstream toward Winnipeg in the event major floods are projected on bothLake Manitoba as well as the Assiniboine River.

• Portage Diversion set for shutdown

Following the 2011 flood, property ownersalong Lake Manitoba which receives water from the Portage Diversioncomplained they were sacrificed to protect communities along the lower Assiniboine River.