|
By
Ray
Common
The
Lance
Thursday,
March
30,
2000
It
was
the
moment
that
members
of
Save
Our
Seine
were
waiting
for.
After
10
years
of
lobbying
the
provincial
government
to
repair
the
siphon
structure
that
channels
the
Seine
River
under
the
Winnipeg
floodway,
repairs
were
completed
over
the
winter
and
the
siphon
was
reopened
last
weekend.
"The
repair
to
the
siphon
will
ultimately
change
the
face
of
the
river
as
we
know
it,
flowing
in
a
manner
that
we
haven't
seen
for
decades,"
said
Jean-Pierre
Brunet,
president
of
Save
Our
Seine
(SOS).
The
difference
While
there
may
not
be
any
appreciable
difference
during
normal
water
flows,
Winnipegers
will
notice
a
dramatic
difference
during
periods
of
low
flows.Before
the
siphon
was
repaired,
there
was
no
water
flow
from
the
outlet
during
periods
of
low
flow.
This
precipitated
the
growth
of
massive
algae
blooms
that
choked
off
oxygen
to
the
river.
"That
was
an
ecological
disaster
for
the
Seine
River
in
the
1980's.
It
killed
fish
and
other
wildlife
that
depended
on
the
river,"
said
Brunet.
With
the
repairs,
an
estimated
eight
to
10
cubic
feet
per
second
previously
lost
to
the
floodway
will
once
again
flow
the
river's
26
km
length.
A
first
At
first
SOS
volunteers
received
national
recognition
March
25.
They
were
presented
with
the
Certificate
of
Environmental
Citizenship
for
their
work
on
cleaning
up
the
river.
SOS
is
the
first
environmental
group
in
Manitoba
to
receive
the
award
from
the
federal
government.
St.
Boniface
MP
Ron
Duhamel
presented
the
group
with
the
award.
Coun.
Dan
Vandal
(St.
Boniface)
announced
that
after
six
years
of
work,
the
recommendations
from
the
Seine
River
Task
Force
are
expected
to
be
approved
by
city
council.
Vandal
said
he
is
confident
city
council
will
adopt
their
report
by
the
end
of
April.
The
recommendations
include
about
20
km.
of
new
Seine
River
trails,
five
new
pedestrian
bridges,
six
canoe
launch
sites
and
63
historical
points
of
interest.
The
report
entitled
the
Seine
River
Heritage
Greenway
Study
was
adopted
March
14
at
the
Riel
Community
Committee.
Back
to
In
the
Media
Back
to
Main
|
