Farmers sue province after multiple floods downstream from Shellmouth Dam

A group of farmers and ranchers in western Manitoba is suing the province for damages and compensation after multiple floods caused permanent damage to their farms and washed away profits.

The plaintiffs are all property owners in the rural municipality of Shellmouth-Boulton,which is located downstream from the Shellmouth Dam.

The farmers saytheir land is regularly inundated by floodwaterfrom the dam, which exacerbates normal spring runoff.

None of their allegations have been proven in court.

This is the group's second lawsuit involving operations of theShellmouth Dam. The first was filed in 2011 and is related to dam operations before that date. It is still before the courts.

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The Shellmouth Dam was designed to prevent the Assiniboine River from flooding Brandon, Portage la Prairie and Winnipeg.

The ranchers and farmers say sometime between 1975 and the present day, the province altered the purpose of the dam, and as a result,controlling floodwaterbecame more difficult.

The plaintiffs argueaside from controlling Assiniboine River levels, the dam also plays a role in providing water for farmland irrigation,and its reservoir is maintained at a level that will serve the interests of vacationers and residentsnear the artificial lake it created.

"The plaintiffs claim that these added purposes have increased the difficulties," court documents say.

A spokesperson for the government said they can offerno comment because the matter is before the courts.

The plaintiffs say the extent of flooding in recent years has been "greatly in excess of any natural flooding" due to weather or seasonal runoff that they experienced before the construction and operation of the dam.

"The flooding caused by the construction and operation of the damconstitutes a nuisance," the court documents read.

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Habitual flooding caused by the dam's operationrenders landunusable even for growing cattle hay during the growing season and in many instances, causes problems the following year as well, the plaintiffs say.

For example,flooding in 2012 caused the ground to be so saturated with water that in 2013, while there was no spring flooding, the ground remained soggy and that "severely" reduced what the land could produce.

Flooding in 2014 caused similar issues in 2015 and 2016.

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Construction of Shellmouth Dam was completed in 1972.

A provincial website says when the dam's reservoir levels are very high, uncontrolled flows of water can spill over the concrete chute spillway and affect agricultural land.