The issue of Delta Beach's Geotextile Tubes has come up again at the RM of Portage la Prairie's council meeting this week. Lakefront Restorers president John Graham was present and outlined the current situation of the Geotextile Tubes, and offered various solutions as to what to do with them as they move into the future.

John Graham"Basically what we're looking at is that the Geotextile Tubes were put in in 2014. And so what we're trying to look at is now, we're in a non-flood situation. How do we get back to normal? How do we get back to something that we can be proud of, that we can go forward, we can rebuild, and we can get back to what the beach the cottage was?"

He notes they're trying to create a solution utilizing two factors after having dealt with previous flood issues.

"It was done in 2011, and we did it again in 2014. Going forward, let's not get stung maybe a third time. So, that's where council, I believe, is sitting. 'Let's work with what we have. Let's take what we have for protection that helps people sleep at night, and turn it into something that will be functional; to where the beach returns, but we still have protection from what was paid for.'"

Graham says water sat behind the tubes and they've been doing so well at protecting the shore that it has not allowed more behind the Geotextile Tubes, and has rendered the water stagnant. He notes if some water was allowed to flow through, it would help flush away the stagnation. He says the best measure of action is to do a complete study and observe the erosion that's taken place. Graham notes the Geotextile Tubes were meant to be a sand dune core. The sand can be washed up to the front of them preventing erosion behind them. Graham notes the tubes can be set up on the beach and buried to the extent they can sit there and serve as sand dunes. Beneath them sits an apron that is self -healing, protecting them from scouring, and they can be buried. 

One thought proposed was to make incisions in the tubes at their seams to allow the flush water behind them. He notes this would level off the sand behind them so the holes created from removing sand to fill the tubes would disappear. Graham notes in this way sections of tubes that are removed can have their sand emptied to help fill the holes as well.

Kam BlightHe says they've learned many things form the projects for future endeavours, from the ways they can be installed, to the equipment they used. Going forward, he says, studying the sand and knowing exactly what's there as per particle size is important. Graham says at Delta Beach a lot of the sand was so fine that it leached out of the tubes. The tubes are currently at 50 per cent of their capacity of holding sand, after having been filled to maximum when first positioned.  This helped them learn that more coarse sand would be good to use there next time. He notes they can stagger tubes to allow more flow behind, or bring them up against natural protections already present.  

He said Geotextile Tubes vary in age from 25 to 50 years, and when buried properly as a sand dune core they can last indefinitely.

Reeve Kam Blight notes the current state of the Geotextile Tubes.

"They definitely have served their purpose very well. The lake is still on the higher side, and they still are helping with the higher wind situations, etc. However, we're at a point now where some of them have moved and some of them have rolled,. The water has decreased, so that some of the holes were exposed on the other side where the sand was removed to help fill the Geotextile Tubes."

He says they'll sit, have some discussion, and look at possibly cutting the tubes to recirculate the water. They'll be consulting with people at the Delta Beach Association as well as Lakefront Restorers. He notes completely removing the tubes is an option, but they want to see what the government will do with the outlet channel, and see what weather and lake levels will do. Blight adds council will be closely monitoring the situation.

John Graham discussing issue with Delta Beach residents