Archived News Releases

A high water advisory issued on Dec. 3 by Manitoba Water Stewardship remains in place for the Assiniboine River watershed from Shellmouth Reservoir to Headingley.

·         Manitoba Water Stewardship advises that communities in the Assiniboine Valley, especially in low-lying areas including Russell, St. Lazare, Millwood, Miniota and Brandon, should maintain their watch for ice-related flooding.

·         Localized flooding is also likely in low-lying areas near the Little Saskatchewan and Souris rivers.

·         The Assiniboine tributaries and the main river remain well within their banks at most locations.  However, due to the recent heavy snowfall followed by sudden drop in temperatures, ice buildup is continuing to cause ice-jam flooding at various locations immediately downstream of the Shellmouth Reservoir in the Millwood, Miniota and Brandon areas.

·         The water level at Brandon has risen by 10 centimetres (0.33 feet) in the last two days.

·         Water levels at Russell and Miniota are declining.  Levels at Headingley have crested and are fairly stable.

·         This flooding is localized and is expected to continue at different locations of the main river and some of the larger tributaries such as the Souris and Little Saskatchewan rivers until freezing stabilizes. Depending on temperature changes, this could take up to approximately two weeks.

·         The Shellmouth Reservoir level has generally been declining since Sept. 23 when the outflow was 3,360 cubic feet per second (cfs).  As of today, the flow is 1,600 cfs and the level stands at
428 metres (1,404 ft.).  The inflow into the reservoir is 1,420 cfs.  For the next two weeks, there will be no gate operations and the reservoir outflow will be constant at 1,600 cfs to ensure that an acceptable drawdown is achieved before the spring.

 

In southern Manitoba, the forecast calls for a chance of snow later today, tomorrow and Thursday and mainly sunny periods for the rest of the week.  The temperatures are expected to remain in the range of -6 to -25 C.  This will result in continued ice development in the coming days and should reduce ice-jam-related flooding.