Residents in Cumberland House can expect better flood protection this spring.
The provincial government announced Wednesday $950,000 to ensure a higher level of flood protection for areas around the northeastern Saskatchewan community.
Temporary dykes that were built in 2013 will be made permanent by adding material to the road beds of Highway 123 and Lambert Drive, the province said. The project will give the communities — the Northern Village of Cumberland House and the Cumberland House Cree Nation — up to one-in-100-year flood protection.
The communities sit on the Saskatchewan River and are surrounded by lakes. Residents have been evacuated several times in the past few years. The province said the cost of evacuation due to flooding in 2011 was about $1.5 million.
