Draft report on Lake Manitoba and Lake St. Martin outlet project shows 'significant adverse environmental effects’

File image of flooding in Lake St. Martin in 2011.

A draft environmental assessment report released by the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada says the Lake Manitoba and Lake St. Martin Outlet Channels Project is likely to cause direct and cumulative significant adverse environmental effects on Indigenous people.

Initial study work on the channels project began in December 2012, after a 2011 flood devastated the area and 18 First Nations communities were evacuated. The project would create two 24-kilometer long diversion channels to mitigate flood water. Its price tag is pegged at $540 million.

The federal government’s environmental assessment draft report was released Monday as it looked to get feedback from the public and Indigenous groups on the report.

“The Agency concludes that, taking into account the implementation of key mitigation measures, monitoring, and follow-up programs, the Project is likely to cause significant adverse environmental effects,” the agency’s draft report says. “The Project may also result in residual environmental effects to species at risk that are of cultural importance to Indigenous groups, including from habitat loss and effects to wildlife health and mortality.”

It also says the project is not likely to cause significant adverse effects on fish, migratory birds, federal land, and Indigenous peoples’ health and socio-economic conditions.

"The Agency is of the view that the Project is designed to manage the design flood volume; however, the Agency recognizes that outstanding concerns may remain regarding residual flooding on reserve lands," it says. “The Project may impact Aboriginal and treaty rights, including from loss or alteration of access to sites of traditional and cultural importance, and effects to the availability and quality of lands and resources of importance."

Once the environmental report is completed and submitted, the federal Minister of Environment and Climate Change will decide if the project is likely to cause significant adverse environmental effects. The minster will be asked to consider mitigation measures.

As part of those measures, the agency is also asking for feedback on the draft potential conditions for the project. Those could include annual reporting and environmental measures to be taken when conducting the project. The agency says final conditions would be legally binding if the federal Minister of Environment and Climate Change allows the project to move forward.  

First Nations groups have previously pushed back against this project, saying they want to partner with the province on the project. In 2022, a Manitoba Court of Queens Bench judge told the Manitoba government it failed to properly consult First Nations communities on the project. It came after a 2019 provincial permit allowed engineers to do tree clearing and other work to monitor ground water and other activity in the area.

In 2021, the Interlake Reserves Tribal Council commissioned its own report, saying a bottleneck would be created in The Narrows channel, causing flooding in the south basin of Lake Manitoba. Earlier that same year, an appeals court struck down the council’s injunction, asking for the province to partner with them on the project.

Those looking to provide feedback on the draft report or potential conditions have until May 8.

Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Lisa Naylor said she is not prepared to decide if the project will move forward until after she has finished consulting with affected Indigenous committees.

“Folks have talked about disruptions to their traditional way of life from fishing to hunting,” Naylor said. “They have concerns about various movement and animals in the area, impact in trap lines. Those are various things we need to understand and work with those concerns carefully.

Naylor said the province is currently working to figure out if - and what - other solutions are possible. 

CTV News has reached out to the Interlake Reserves Tribal Council and Lake St. Martin First Nation.