Saskatchewan resort village getting $3.9M to raise berms, hold back rising lake - Action News
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Saskatoon

Saskatchewan resort village getting $3.9M to raise berms, hold back rising lake

A popular Saskatchewan tourist destination is getting help to hold back rising water that threatens the community and a camp for disabled persons.

Increasing height of berm expected to cost $1M

Manitou Beach, Sask., is getting help to hold back rising water that threatens the community and a camp for disabled persons. (David Shield/CBC)

A popular Saskatchewan tourist destination is getting help to hold back rising water that threatens the community and a camp for disabled persons.

The provincial government has approved spending of up to $3.9 million to raise berms by one metre in the resort village of Manitou Beach, about 120 kilometres southeast of Saskatoon, and Camp Easter Seal.

Manitou Beach Mayor Gerry Worobec says the berms must be higher to protect homes or businesses and to keep water from Little Manitou Lake out of the sewer and water systems.

Youngsters play on the beach beside a gazebo that used to be in the middle of sand. The structure is now surrounded by the rising water of Little Manitou Lake. (David Shield/CBC)

Worobec says the situation is urgent because the current berm already has temporary barriers on top of it and sometimes that is overtopped by waves on windy days.

Increasing the height of the berm is expected to cost the village of about 250 people just under $1 million.

But Worobec says what is really needed is a permanent plan to divert water from running into the lake, which is a closed basin, meaning water has nowhere else to flow.