South Central Manitoba

South Central Manitoba encompasses centres like Morden, Winkler, Altona, Morris and Carman, all of which originally were predominantly Mennonite but have evolved to have people from a variety of ethnic backgrounds. South Central Manitoba generally includes the Red River Valley area from Morris to the Interlake, west to Portage la Prairie and east to East St. Paul and Lorette. It is only roughly defined and often not used as a designation, since it blends into places like Selkirk and Winnipeg, or even sometimes Steinbach, which usually is described as being in EastMan.

The entire region is considered valuable farming (grain and plant crops) acreage. Partly, this is due to the flood-prone nature of the area. Two rivers, the Red and the Assiniboine flow through the area and since most of the region is fairly flat, spring floods occur often, but the soil is rich and deep.

Again typical of laid-back Manitoba, even our floods don’t seem to be violent and threatening like many flash flood-prone parts of the world. A typical spring flood may take shape over four or five weeks, almost as if it wants to give us lots of warning to prepare for the oncoming waters, which also deliver nutrients from the south and west.

This part of the province is the perfect place to enjoy our endless sunsets and sunrises in the summer. It may seem to take an hour or more for the daylight to disappear after sunset at night, or we may enjoy daylight for an hour before the sun rises in the morning.