We farm around 1400 acres of soy beans,oats canola and sunflowers on very heavy black clay ,Although it is like a pool table we don't "flood" ,water can sit 6 inches deep in spring thaw but only till dykes thaw and can be gone in 5-10 days , Every 5 miles or so is a big ditch up to 15 feet deep and if bad enough they run the snow out of them with a D8 and V plough ,Blowing snow is my worst problem so any bluffs of trees are removed to let snow blow on by and not build up around field edges causing wet places in spring . All yards have trees around ,at least on north side to stop cold north wind , Can be -45 wind chill. Clearing job you see is my winter project ,For many reasons ,Create more land,reduce snow build-up ,Extra income the lumber you see is piled is for my firewood business (up to 200 cords split and delivered each year ).
As for the winnipeg floodway ,I've only been here 10 years so i'm not really qualified to give it's history but it is an awesome piece of engineering ,The red river is prone to flooding and runs right through the city but we are an hour away so it does'nt affect us too bad ,There is a big expansion job in operation on the floodway right now but it is tiny in contrast to the original job all those years ago
