The Municipality of Bifrost-Riverton being threatened by high water levels on Lake Winnipeg.

That's according to Reeve Harold Foster, who says the water levels are getting higher and things are going to get worse before they get better.

"We've had North wind now for probably two-thirds of the time for the last two weeks. It's pushing the water from the North to us, and Thursday morning there was waves splashing over the shore in some places and water is collecting in the low spots."

Foster says the only immediate solution would be for Manitoba Hydro to open the gates at the Jenpeg generating station.

"Somehow that lake has to be drawn down and the only way to do that is to open those extra gates. We do have fields that aren't getting seeded this year because of the lake levels in the low-lying areas is going to be too wet. There are four generators, and each has a gate that allows water to flow through. At the end of the dam, there's an extra gate that they can open to let excess water go through. That's all they can do too is keep everything open."

There isn't much the RM can do to prepare for the high water levels, which is very frustrating for Foster.

"It seems to be government policy that you don't prevent disasters, you wait for them to happen and then spend the money to deal with it, which is something we don't agree with, but it seems to be the policy. All we can do is ask Hydro to keep those gates open and run as much water as they can out the North end."

Foster adds there's always an urgency to get people to drain faster and faster, which puts more pressure on the ditches they have to clear, and it all gets back into the lake in the end.

"Unfortunately, Manitoba Hydro has a policy that until the lake reaches 750 ft above sea level they do not open the gates," says Foster. "Sometimes that's too late because they lake is on the rise. We'd like to see them open them up around 710, 715 instead when it is rising."