By Terrie Welwood
Russell Banner
At about 6:30 pm on Tuesday April 21st, Scott Gregor, the CFO of Riding Mountain West was checking out the water flowing under the municipal road off of Hwy 83 to the entrance to the Asessippi Beach & Campground.
“I had driven down the road over the Bear Creek around 6:15 p.m, and the water was really flowing down the road and over the culvert,” Karen Goraluk said.
“Scott who works for the RM was there watching and I guess he heard a noise and ran to back his vehicle and backed it up and he was still able to get a video of the culvert letting loose and going down Bear Creek before it ended up in the Shell River where it is now.”
A few days prior, the RM, she said, had been keeping an eye on that portion of road.
“They had their back hoe there and sat there for a few hours one evening keeping the culvert clear so that the water was flowing west,” Goraluk said.
Bear Creek, Karen explained, comes all the way from the Riding Mountain National Park and winds its way down and goes through the culvert right beside Asessippi Beach & Campground and ends up in the Shell River and then into Lake of the Prairies.
“If you go to the Inglis school and head north down the provincial road just north of the school, Bear Creek has two big culverts there.”
“And all that water comes down from there plus all the runoff along the creek and it all passes past the campground.”
Although nothing of this magnitude has happened since the Goraluk family took ownership of the Asessippi Beach & Campground in 2008, Karen said she knows that a washout like this has happened in the past when the washrooms and a septic tank were demolished by the waters of Bear Creek a number of years ago.
Goraluk said she’s spoken to the RM of Riding Mountain West who have assured her that a new culvert is already on order and are hopeful they’ll receive it in time for their May long weekend opening at the campground.
In speaking to Glenda Lemcke, the CAO of the RM of Riding Mountain West, came assurances that the culvert is indeed on order and is expected to arrive within two weeks.
If for some reason, the culvert does not arrive within that time frame, the RM will come up with a plan to ensure that road will be open..

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