New culverts helping to mitigate flooding: Reeve LeBlanc

The Rural Municipality of Estevan took steps last fall to help prevent flooding this spring, as the RM installed new culverts to help with water flow, according to Reeve Jason LeBlanc.

"Last fall the RM was proactive in doing a culvert redo, we didn't add anymore flow but we definitely went around the RM and found existing culverts...some of them are 50 years old or more and they collapsed or corroded off," LeBlanc said. 

"We'll continue on that program again this year, and it's just a matter of keeping the water moving as to where it's supposed to, the way nature wanted it to."

He said the work was intended to help protect the roads from the water.

"When the water doesn't move where it's intended to, then the road pays the price," he said. "So the road cannot be used as a dam, the water's supposed to flow the natural lay of the land. In being proactive last year, we feel like we've saved quite a few roads this spring."

LeBlanc said the RM will get reports of some potential problem areas, then go out and check to see if any work is needed.

"We go out and look and 50 per cent of the time there is a problem, there's a collapsed culvert or just over the years, dirt or grass was laid on top and covered it up," he said.

LeBlanc estimates there are roughly 500 culverts in the entire RM, while some of the roads in the area are approaching 100 years old.

He said the cost of replacing culverts isn't overly high.

"Not really, no. We're experimenting with plastic culverts as well so they don't corrode," LeBlanc said. "Metal culverts that lay in low lying areas that are covered in water all the time tend to rust out and bust up, so that's why we're looking at some plastic ones for those types of areas, and stick with the metal culverts for the ones that are just where the water flows through in the spring and doesn't really see anything again until next year."

The RM of Estevan did not institute road bans again this year, and LeBlanc said so far they've had no issues as spring runoff continues.

"We're really happy with how the road bans have been working. This is the fourth year of no bans, and people are using their heads," he said. "The odd complaint of somebody driving, but we go and check and there's been no damage."

"And we just encourage people to keep using their head like that...don't wreck the road, don't cause a problem, and then you don't have to pay for it."