The Chair of the TNRD heard from Stump Lake residents last week as they continue to wait for some kind of action on flood waters.
Ken Gillis admits home owners are in an extremely difficult position.
“It must be absolutely excruciating for those people who are affected,” he said, noting the district is in a tough spot as far as helping goes. “The only reaction we can have is to help people who are displaced, that sort of thing.”
“We can provide a certain amount of help in the way of sand bags and that sort of thing but that’s precious little.”
Gillis says they are things being done though. “We have initiated a hydrological study together with the province and I perfectly understand the Stump Lake people are sick and tired of studies but just imagine for a moment the fall out if we just barged in and took some action, which we have no right to do by the way, and there were catastrophic results downstream and the fall out would be,” he said.
“I wouldn’t want to be around for it.”
He continued, “And of course we don’t have the ability to barge in anyway, it’s the Province’s water and we have no right to divert that water of interfere with it.”
Gillis pointed to other ways they’ve been able to step up, “We have contributed the lion’s share of the cost of the study. We’re not obliged to do that but we did because we understand. I mean these people may be at the mercy of the province but they’re our constituents too and we are trying to do whatever we can.”
“In the short term, we’re hoping the province will undertake a program to lower the lake this fall and winter but there’s all kinds of hoops that if they have to jump through them all it’s never happen.”
He says it’s really frustrating for residents, saying they’re working as heard as they can with the province saying it’s very difficult and they doing as much as they can.
Gillis said there is one thing that gets under his skin. “What really infuriates me, to be honest with you is that we don’t have the jurisdiction but when we point to province it looks like we’re passing the buck and we’re not passing the buck.”
