The Red River Floodway is Operational

There were many objections from opposition parties during debates concerning whether to build the Red River Floodway or not. Today, there are few objections. After all, this flood is only one of several which have resulted in the Floodway gates being raised in order to protect the City of Winnipeg. The 1997 flood has generated much conjecture about how the Floodway will handle this massive amount of water arriving from the south.

Now is a good time to explain to you how the Floodway operates by looking at the photo to the right.  Water from the Red River flows up from the south and arrives at the location of the Red River Floodway gate structure. During normal spring flows, the Floodway gates are down, thereby allowing flow from the Red River to the south to flow through the gate structure and proceed through the City of Winnipeg. During periods of flood conditions, the gates of the Floodway Control Structure are raised, causing a portion of what was heading for the Red River channel through the City to be redirected up the floodway channel. On the entrance to the floodway channel, there is a "lip" that exists to reduce the probability of ice entering the floodway channel.

Today, the flow is such that the Red River Floodway gates have been raised. This restricts the amount of flow allowed into the Red River as it enters Winnipeg. What cannot flow through the floodway gates is then pushed over the lip and will flow downstream into the Floodway Channel. This channel by-passes the City of Winnipeg - and in the process provides a high degree of protection against overland flooding to most areas within the City of Winnipeg. So , when you look at the Floodway Gate Structure in the photo, and you see the white waves from the flow passing through the gates, this is the flow that is permitted to enter the City of Winnipeg. The remaining flow is directed into the Floodway channel that diverts around the City.

Both of the above photos illustrate the massive amount of water proceeding towards Winnipeg. This amount of water, if allowed to proceed straight through the Red River channel, could cause very serious flooding within the City of Winnipeg.

On the right of the floodway channel pictured above, overland flow accumulates at the dike of the floodway channel. The channel itself has the capacity to handle more water than it is seeing at present. Please note the that the floodway channel walls have significant "freeboard" or space available for more water before any risk of overtopping occurs. The City of Winnipeg depends on the Floodway to act as a SUPPLEMENT to moving water from the Red River . The Floodway was designed for 60,000 cubic feet per second (cfs) flows, but can be made to handle a maximum of 100,000 cfs. The Red River channel through the City has handled a maximum of 88,000 cfs in 1966 without breaching the City's primary dike system.

Please remember: Many of the images you will see contain the homes of people who have been uprooted from their families, homes, and livelihoods. They need your help NOW. Please contact your LOCAL RED CROSS and tell them you wish to donate to the FUND FOR MANITOBA FLOOD RELIEF......THANK YOU FOR YOUR CARING SUPPORT!

Please watch this space for additional updates. We will be bringing you more stories in the days ahead.

Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have stories and photos you can share with us. We'll get them on this site immediately upon receiving them. You can also telephone us to contribute your flood stories by calling our flood info hotline at 992-2203.