Recycling Programs Popular In Southeast
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Music Festival Underway
March 13, 2013
New Doctor Begins Practice In Estevan
WEDNESDAY
The Estevan and District Music Festival is well underway now with the band instrumentalists having been adjudicated and the vocalists and speech arts entries currently being assessed. When the band students got the opportunity to strut their stuff, they did so in front of adjudicator Greg McLean who is pictured here with music teacher Cindy Burham while horn players (from the left) Matthew Grunert, Everett Schwab, Emily Vollmin and Shaylee Foord did a few warm-up exercises.
Bruins and Terriers Open Series
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Issue 45
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Runoff report says southeast should avoid repeat of 2011 After Dark Concert Series Returns Friday
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Although some areas of the province have already begun to prepare for spring flooding, it looks as though the southeast will avoid a repeat of the devastation that hit the region in 2011. The Saskatchewan Water Management Agency released its March runoff report Monday during a press conference in Regina. The report projects there will be above normal runoff in the Souris River Basin, but because of a dry fall, the chances of a flood such as the one that wreaked havoc in the area in 2011 are minimal. John Fahlman, the director of hydrology and ground water services for the SWA, said they are expecting a less than one in 10 snowmelt volume in the basin, which means it is a nonflood operation year.
“We had a lot more water volume down there in 2011 than we did this year,� he said. The report noted that winter precipitation ranges from well above normal in the northern portion of the basin to near normal along the border. As of March 1 Boundary Dam was at an elevation of 559.6 metres which is 1.2m below its full supply level. Based on the current conditions, it’s expected that Boundary will refill, with any excess inflows to be diverted to Rafferty through the diversion channel. Rafferty was sitting at an elevation of 549.45m as of March 1, which is slightly below the full supply level of 550.5m. The WSA is expected to draw Rafferty down to 549.3m prior
to spring runoff which they say will provide downstream flood protection while ensuring a 90 per cent chance of refilling based on the current projections. Throughout the spring, water levels are expected to rise 1.5m, which will place the reservoir .5m over the full supply level. Asked about how this year might compare with the lead up to the 2011 floods, Fahlman said there are a number of differences. “It was drier in the fall of 2012 than it was in the fall of 2010 so leading up to this winter it was quite a bit drier,â€? he said. “In 2011, not only was it wet but all the depressional storage was filled— the sloughs were all full, a lot of the rivers were running all winter and we didn’t see Dry ⇢A2
Time to Twin group contemplates future by Norm Park of The Mercury
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There is still more to do and more public opinion to collect so the Time to Twin committee has decided to remain intact and active. The group will continue to serve notice to the provincial government that the need to provide a safe throughway from North Portal to Regina should be a priority item on their infrastructure agenda. The co-chairwoman of the committee, Lauralie
Ireland, said she had contemplated an exit from the committee work, but a recent close call on Highway 39 involving her family members, has renewed her resolve to see some action taken that will eventually lead to a commitment by the provincial government to provide a four-lane highway along Highway 39 and Highway 6 south of Regina. The highway that links the international port to Estevan, Weyburn and points in between to the capital city, is a vital one
that deserves more attention from politicians as well as the business communities it serves, said Marge Young, the woman who shares the chair’s duties. The two women have been at the forefront of the bid to see this highway expanded to accommodate current and anticipated growth in traffic volume. They said following an informal meeting on March 3, they might be ready to call for some more meaningful input from the general population by ar-
ranging a public forum. They said they’ll be testing the waters to see if there is enough interest from the local businesses and general motoring public in pursuing the subject more aggressively. “If there isn’t a whole lot of interest from the public regarding this highway, it’s time we found out,� said Young. In the meantime, the two said they are prepared to conduct a spring or summer traffic count along Highways 39 and 47 (north
from Estevan) as they did two summers ago. The two had also conducted a mini petition drive among southeast Saskatchewan trucking and oil companies, service stations and restaurants, gaining information and opinions regarding the twinning prospects. “We heard from all of them that they would definitely appreciate a twinned highway for obvious reasons, and we also heard that they were very busy and didn’t have a lot of Group ⇢A2
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