The RM of Portage la Prairie's one of the first municipalities to incorporate tile drainage, and has tweaked the deadline required for work after approval. Reeve Kam Blight says they're experiencing a learning curve.

Kam Blight"Our tile drainage policy has been a work in progress over the past few years. We're learning as we go. We're trying to make it easy for everyone that applies, but also cover all the bases. We have to make sure we do our due diligence to make sure it's in the best interests of the municipality and make sure that we're not missing anything. "

Blight explains they don't want an open ended timeframe for work completion.

"Things do change. Infrastructure changes. We could approve some work to be done right now, but in a few years time -- five years, six, ten years -- that infrastructure no longer is in a state that can handle some drainage. The landscape's changed to a certain extent. What we've done is put a closing date on there for when the work must be done. It must be done within four years of approval of application. After that they can come back and reapply."

Tile drainage works in principle is like weeping tiles beneath your home. The ground table rises, the water goes into the tile and flows out. A heavy rain allows the water to sink into the ground to avoid water pooling and gushing off the surface. It basically controls and slows down the process of how water comes out of the land.