Steinbach homeowners sue city over flooding

Several Steinbach residents have filed a lawsuit against the southeastern Manitoba city over flooding in their homes they argue was the result of the government’s poor design and maintenance of the sewage system.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of the homeowners — nine couples and four individuals — in the Court of King’s Bench last week.

The court papers claim the amount of rainfall that entered Steinbach’s sewers in the northeast part of the city, where the homeowners reside, was “significantly increased” during two heavy rainfalls in 2024 and 2025 as a result of the city’s alleged negligence or nuisance.

The lawsuit alleges a slew of issues with the city’s sewer system contributed to sewage backups and flooding of the plaintiffs’ homes during the heavy rains.

Problems with the sewage system date back to when Steinbach approved a plan for the Clearspring Greens subdivision in the early 2000s, the lawsuit says.

Rather than diverting the subdivision’s sewer drainage along a major road, the city routed it into the system that serves the northeastern part of Steinbach, where the plaintiffs’ homes are located, the lawsuit claims.

Later, another residential development and the Steinbach Aquatic Centre were added to the same sewage system, the court papers claim, but city officials did not take steps to add capacity to the system.

The lawsuit accuses Steinbach’s government of breaching its duty of care to the residents by improperly designing the sewer system, failing in its responsibility to maintain the system, by not enforcing a bylaw meant to prevent the sewer from overflowing and by not adequately inspecting construction work.

The court papers allege a significant amount of water flowed into open sewer manholes during the two heavy rain events in September 2024 and September 2025. The manhole covers had been removed due to construction work in 2024 and 2025, the claim argues.

The sewer system is meant to be a closed system and was not designed to accept flowing stormwater, the court papers say.

The court filing also alleges Steinbach officials had known that many residents were using sump pumps and other mechanisms to discharge rainwater into the closed sewer system, since at least 2015, which violates a city bylaw meant to prevent the sanitary sewer system from flooding.

But, the lawsuit claims, city officials intentionally declined to enforce the bylaw.

Further, the court papers allege that during the 2024 and 2025 rainfalls, the city failed to use its auxiliary pumps — which are used to speed up the flow of liquid through the sewer system to reduce potential overflow — in a timely manner.

The lawsuit claims that several Steinbach officials have acknowledged the city failed to adequately operate and manage the sewage system around the plaintiffs’ homes, and that the city has since begun enforcing the sump-pump bylaw.

The plaintiffs are seeking unspecified damages for the losses, costs and expenses they suffered during the floods.

The City of Steinbach has yet to reply to the claim in court.

erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca