Flooding in Regina's northwest causes sewer woes for city

After heavy rainfall hammered Regina on Monday, city workers were scrambling to deal with flash flooding the next day.

Environment Canada reported that 79 millimetres fell on the city up to 6 a.m. CST, resulting in lots of plugged catch basins and wet basements.

However, some neighbourhoods got 90 mm, according to Pat Wilson, the city's director of waterworks.

The sewer system did a good job moving water in the south end, but it didn't work out so wellin the north, she said.

"The storm [sewer] system is extremely full in the northwest and some customers did have [sewage] backups," Wilson said.

With the sewage system swamped, the city had to bypass the McCarthy pumping station for four hoursstarting at about 11 p.m. That meant "strained sewage" was put into the creek system and sent downstream west of the city.

That sewage was diluted due to all the rainwater, mitigating the environmental impact, Wilson said.

The sewage system is slowly returning to normal, but another night of rain like Monday could mean another bypass will be necessary, she said.

Residents in the northwest said the water they encountered was unprecedented.

"In the six years I've been here it's the highest I've ever seen," Peter Hall said Tuesday, pointing out how water was lapping on his driveway from the deluge.

Paula Miller, another resident in the area, said some wave action generated by passing motorists caused water to cover three-quarters of her front lawn.

Environment Canada said Regina could see another 15-25 millimetres of rain today.

Meanwhile, the City of Regina is urging citizens to curtail their water consumption for awhile to help the sewage system get caught up.

Residents also identified concerns with how the city uses mulch around plantings on city property.

"See all the mulch on the street? They put that [mulch] on the boulevards over here," Morley Miller said. "Once the rain comes, it came all the way down into our drainage here. I was out at one o'clock in the morning trying to keep that drain clear."