The Town of Virden has declared a targeted state of emergency focused on the Assiniboine Valley, where rising river levels are putting pressure on the community’s raw‑water infrastructure. While the town itself remains safe, officials say proactive measures are underway to protect the municipal well system and ensure uninterrupted delivery of safe drinking water.
Mayor Tina Williams says the emergency designation is strictly tied to the valley, not the town. “Our state of emergency is in the valley which is where the river is coming up. They’re predicting the crest to hit Saturday or Sunday. So we have it all bermed off whereas in town we are absolutely fine right now. So the state of emergency is not really for the town it’s more for our water supply.”
Williams says water quality is monitored closely through provincial regulators. “It’s the office of drinking water. They tell us how often to test, they check the levels that are going on, they are the ones who tell us what notices to put out to the public. It’s not a decision that we make through the town or our employees make, we hand them the results and they tell us how we have to work it.”
Preparations are in place should river levels rise higher than expected. “We’ve put in a berm and done sandbagging and all those things we need to have in place because we have had to worry about those wells in the valley in past years like in the decades where we had more flooding in town like 2013 and 2014 so we’re just getting ready for it but we’re hoping that we’ve done enough.”
Williams says there is no imminent danger of structural or property damage. “We don’t see any overland flooding trouble right now but with the rain events we’ve had around this part of the province you just don’t know.” She adds the sunny, hot forecast is a welcome shift as the river approaches its expected crest this weekend.
Near the bridge in Assiniboine Valley as of Wednesday afternoon.
