WINNIPEG �?Manitobans are trying to come to grips with the full impact of a wet spring and summer that have drenched farmlands, flooded basements and swollen rivers and lakes.

"I have not talked to one resident who isn't pumping water,'' said Fred de Laroque, a councillor in the Rural Municipality of Woodlands northwest of Winnipeg.

"I've talked to some of the elderly residents who've been here 80 or 90 years, and they don't remember anything like this.''

The provincial government released statistics Monday that demonstrated the toll the heavy rains have taken.

The Agriculture Department estimates more than 20 per cent of the province's 3.8 million hectares of crop land will be no good this year. Much of the land could not be seeded because of the wet spring. Some of what was seeded is expected to be ruined by standing water in the fields.

The province also announced it is preparing to help fund more than $25 million in relief under a federal-provincial disaster aid program.

Much of the money will go to rebuild more than 100 rural municipal roads that have been washed out.

More than 30 provincial roads have also been closed or partially closed because of water spilling over their surfaces.

Traffic on the main highway between Winnipeg and the U.S. border was reduced to one lane Monday.

The province's largest farm lobby group, Keystone Agricultural Producers, said it was shocked by how widespread the water damage has been -- covering virtually all of the southern part of the province.

"For all the province to be affected . . . I think it's almost unprecedented,'' said Keystone president David Rolfe.

Southern Manitoba was walloped most recently on Saturday with up to 100 millimetres of rain in some areas.

The region was also hit on the weekend by at least three tornadoes. They damaged a handful of buildings but resulted in no injuries.

Five to 10 millimetres of rain fell Sunday evening _ not enough to cause new flooding but enough to prevent the ground from drying.

Many residents have had sandbags around their homes to keep rising rivers at bay.

They received some good news Monday from Environment Canada, which issued a forecast calling for sunny, dry conditions the rest of the week. Provincial officials said, barring any more heavy rain, rivers will slowly start to recede.

"It'll be prolonged a few more days. . .but probably towards the end of the week, they should start dropping,'' said Rick Bowering with the province's water stewardship department.

Bowering said a key exception is the Roseau River in the southeast corner of the province, where a flood warning remained in effect because of heavy rains Saturday.

The only creatures benefiting from all the rain have been the feathered variety.

Environment Canada said the wet weather has increased the wetland habitat for ducks and other waterfowl, resulting in a 56 per cent increase from last year in the waterfowl breeding population.

The high waters have also been a boon for the province's electric utility, Manitoba Hydro. High and fast-flowing water in rivers and lakes means excess hydroelectricity production.

Meanwhile, several dozen people evacuated from flooded Cumberland House in northern Saskatchewan caught a bus ride home on the weekend.

Residents of the community and from the Cumberland House First Nation received the go-ahead to return home Saturday night.

Officials from Cumberland House, 230 kilometres northeast of Prince Albert, said it was up to the residents to decide if they wanted to return to the area, even though a state of emergency had not been lifted.

Brian Chaboyer, deputy mayor of Cumberland House, said flood waters from the Saskatchewan River had not reached dikes built around the community.

Residents were evacuated June 23 as the river, swollen by heavy rains in Alberta, began to rise.

Water levels are expected to peak sometime this week, said John Cook with Saskatchewan Environment.