Mr. Speaker, I will share my time with the member for Charleswood—St. James—Assiniboia.
I am pleased to rise tonight to put a few comments on the record concerning Lake Winnipeg. My daughter and her husband live very close to Lake Winnipeg and I hear weekly about the challenges that are there for the residents living on our beloved Lake Winnipeg.
It is not the first time I have risen to speak about Devils Lake. Almost two years ago, as my hon. colleague from Winnipeg North mentioned, on June 21, 2005, I myself called for an emergency debate on this matter. I would like to commend the member for Winnipeg North for calling this debate. Devils Lake is an issue that warrants the immediate attention of this House and it is good to see the initiation of this debate so we can address this right in the House of Parliament.
One of the most compelling and crucial aspects of the diversion of water from Devils Lake into Manitoba is the looming threat of the pollution of our rivers and lakes, and we have heard that throughout the evening tonight. During the 1990s, high levels of precipitation caused Devils Lake to swallow large amounts of land that surround it. The lake has since risen more than seven metres, submerging 28,000 hectares of farmland and causing 300 households to abandon their land. The solution for this was to build an emergency outlet that would channel water into the Sheyenne River, which would then combine with the Red River to eventually empty into Lake Winnipeg.
I am very familiar with the Red River as it flows through my constituency of Kildonan—Paul. Manitobans and Winnipegers know that Lake Winnipeg and the Red River are two bodies of water in our province that are very significant bodies of water and e bodies of water that are under duress. Lake Winnipeg, as the hon. member for Selkirk—Interlake mentioned a few minutes earlier, has many problems with the algal blooms and with nitrates.
My daughter often tells me that no one can go swimming in the lake simply because of the water alerts. No one even wants their dogs lapping the water from the lake because of the pollutants.
We know that a non-binding agreement in 2005 between Ottawa and Washington allowed for the flow of water from the emergency outlet by North Dakota as long as an advanced rock filter be built. Sometimes that is forgotten. This filter was to protect the Red River and Lake Winnipeg from the alien fish and plant species, as well as the pollutants. This important filter has not yet been built by the U.S. government. Currently, the only filter in place is a simple $50,000 rock and gravel filter that in August 2005 actually broke during the initial testing. This is a grave concern.
Another alarming development is the change to North Dakota's health department sulphate limits, which increased the allowable limits for sulphate levels in the water. Previously, the level of sulphate in the water being channeled through the emergency outlet was 300 milligrams per litre. The permit was revised last August and the state health department will now allow the Devils Lake emergency outlet to operate when up to 450 milligrams of sulphate are present in the Sheyenne River.
Canadians take pride in our environment. We have the most beautiful country in the world and we would like to preserve it for generations to come. If North Dakota continues to allow the water from Devils Lake to flow into the Sheyenne River, the Red River and finally into Lake Winnipeg, the environmental results will be alarming.
Lake Winnipeg, which our government has devoted $7 million to clean up, will continue to be polluted. This is a very important point because now both our government and the provincial government have taken special care to ensure that Lake Winnipeg, which is under duress as we speak, cannot afford to have pollutants added to its waters. The commercial fishing industry is also in jeopardy as pollution and new species could threaten current fish populations.
Apart from minimal operations in August 2005, during initial testing the Devils Lake outlet did not release any water at all in 2006. It comes as a deep disappointment today that North Dakota opted to operate it starting on Monday afternoon of this week. As we understand the situation, the outlet has run intermittently this week and has released minimal amounts of water into the Sheyenne River. Nevertheless, our government is very concerned by this recent development and particularly the members from Manitoba.
We understand that residents in the Devils Lake basin faced rising flood waters in the period leading to May 2006 when the Devils Lake level peaked. Our government is sympathetic to concerns about flooding and certainly Winnipegers are sympathetic.
Indeed, North Dakota's neighbours in Manitoba know what it means to live with the persistent threat of Red River floods. Nonetheless, North Dakota's decision to operate the outlet places Canada at an unknown and unwarranted degree of risk. The choice to discharge water from the outlet comes at a time when the level of Devils Lake is substantially below that of a year ago.
In this respect, I believe that North Dakota's decision is not only very disappointing, but very unnecessary.
I would like to review some recent history regarding Devils Lake for members of the House but I think most of it has been covered tonight so I will cover the salient points that have not been covered.
In May 2006, Devils Lake levels peaked at a little more than 1,449 feet among mean sea level, just short of 1,500 feet. Throughout 2006 not a drop of water was released from the outlet. After reaching its peak in May last year, lake levels then fell dramatically due mainly to evaporation. By earlier this spring, the level of Devils Lake had dropped by more than two feet below the 2006 high water mark.
While the lake level has risen in recent weeks, as it does every year around this time due to seasonal rainfall, it remains well below the 2006 maximum.
This week, with the lake level well down from a year ago by more than a foot, North Dakota, without warning to the Governments of Canada or the United States, decided to run the outlet. The lake level simply does not warrant placing Canadian waters a risk.
A second point to understand about the system is the important constraint placed on the outlet by the water quality of the Sheyenne River. The Sheyenne River is the receiving water for discharges from the outlet. Devils Lake water contains a high level of sulphates and a high concentration of dissolved solids.
In order for the outlet to operate, flows in the Sheyenne River must be sufficient to dilute the salty water from Devils Lake. There is maximum concentration of sulphates, a type of dissolved solid, that is allowed in the Sheyenne River under the operating permit for the outlet.
In addition to the lower water levels in 2006, North Dakota could not operate the outlet due to high sulphate levels that exceeded the level allowed under its permit. North Dakota then decided to unilaterally change the permit, which is currently being challenged in court.
This week, due to seasonal rainfall, the flow in the Sheyenne River was sufficient to provide dilution to allow for discharges from Devils Lake this week. However, there was insufficient dilution to allow for anything like a significant release of Devils Lake water.
Indeed, even under optimal circumstances, the Devils Lake outlet would have a minimal impact on reducing lake levels. This week, even with good flow in the river, the discharge of Devils Lake water into the Sheyenne River had a trivial impact on reducing lake levels.
To be clear, the decision to operate the outlet was unnecessary. It exposes Canadian waters to an unknown degree of risk from invasive species transfer.
I am proud of the steps our government is taking to quickly deal with this issue. Our environment minister and the regional minister for Manitoba met with the Manitoba provincial water stewardship minister on Tuesday to discuss this issue. The environment minister agreed to voice Manitoba's concerns within 24 hours to have the August 2005 agreement respected, as well as request that the U.S. government have the Environmental Protection Agency review the standards governing the operations of the Devils Lake emergency outlet.
I am grateful to the member for Winnipeg North for bringing this issue to the House tonight.