Lake consuming Deloraine cropland

Farmers working around Whitewater Lake near Deloraine want the province to drain the swollen lake.

Heavy snow and rainfalls have tripled its size inrecent years, leaving more than 15,000 acres of former farmland under water.

Barry Janssens lost a thousand acres of grain land to the lake this year, and wonders how he can survive.

"That's the million dollar question. How do we survive? And we have to get this water off our property and get that land cleaned up so we can survive."

Bob McCallum,reeve of the Rural Municipalityof Morton,fears the problem couldget worse."If we don't do something it going to affect more people, plus it could affect some communities."

McCallum and producers like Janssens want the province to build a channel to drain the lake back to its original size.