Manitoba Water Stewardship

A flood advisory has been issued for the Seine River from St. Anne to PTH 59. Extensive overland flooding continues due to Monday night’s 50-75 mm downpour. The Seine River has risen rapidly in recent days and is now flooding low lying areas from Ste. Anne to Lorette. The river is expected to crest in the Dufresne area today, at Lorette tomorrow and at PTH 59 early Saturday. With favourable weather the river should be back within its banks by July 3.

Lakes in the Whiteshell continue to rise and have reached near record levels, creating serious problems for boathouses, some low-lying cottages and some campgrounds. Some roads in the Whiteshell are overtopped. Levels are likely to rise for a few more days and will remain high until mid July even with favourable weather from now on. Logs have been removed from most dams controlling levels in the Whiteshell. Additional logs were removed from White Lake Dam yesterday, causing water levels to decline somewhat at PR 307 and the local campground. Additional logs will be removed from Jessica Lake tomorrow to stem rising levels and flooding on that lake.

The level of Bird Lake in Nopiming Park continues to decline slowly despite significant rainfall during the past 10 days. However the high water level advisory remains in effect for southern portions of the Park.

Lakes along the Winnipeg River are at near normal levels. Lake Of The Woods still remains below its average level for this time of year.

A high water level advisory continues for the Red River.

The Red River rose 0.6 to 1.0 feet from Emerson to the Floodway Inlet during the 24 hour period ending this morning. Rises from Winnipeg to Lockport were only about a quarter foot due to the effect of Portage Diversion operation which has lowered Assiniboine River flows entering the Winnipeg area. The river level in downtown Winnipeg was just under 16 feet this morning, 9.6 feet above the normal summer level. The river level in downtown Winnipeg is expected to crest between 16.4 and 16.6 feet this long weekend. Without operation of the Portage Diversion, river levels in the City of Winnipeg would rise about one foot higher than presently predicted. A small amount of water, approximately 200 cubic feet per second (cfs), was flowing naturally into the Red River Floodway channel this morning. The total flow of the Red River at the Floodway Inlet was 38,500 cfs.

Predicted crests in rural areas of the Red River remain unchanged. Additional rises of about two feet above this morning’s levels are expected from Emerson to St. Norbert while further rises of 1-2 feet area expected in areas north of Lockport. Additional rises in the Winnipeg area will range from 1.5 feet in southern portions of the City to about half a foot in the portion from downtown to the north perimeter.

Flooding of some low-lying agricultural lands is expected in the area from Letellier to St. Jean but elsewhere the river will remain within its banks. The Red River is presently 29 feet above its normal summer level in the Emerson area. While this is one of the largest summer events for the Red River, peak stages will still be significantly lower than those of the record summer flood of 2005.

A high water level advisory for portions of the Pembina River watershed from Lena to Snowflake has ended as small streams have subsided and larger streams such as Badger Creek should remain within their banks.

The Portage Diversion continues to be operated to reduce flows on the Assiniboine River from Portage la Prairie to Winnipeg. The Diversion flow this morning was 3130 cubic cfs while the flow down the river at Portage La Prairie was 2350 cfs. The diversion flow will be increased until the flow in the river at Portage la Prairie subsides to the normal summer flow of about 1000 cfs late tomorrow.

The Shellmouth Reservoir water level this morning was 1410.42 feet with a spillway flow of 1650 cfs. The decline in the level and outflow is mainly due to yesterday’s north winds subsiding. The reservoir level, inflow and outflow are expected to change little for the next few days and then subside based on little precipitation. Saskatchewan Water Authority continues to restrict outflows from Good Spirit Lake to reduce flows at Kamsack but this is likely to end later this week.

The reservoir inflow this morning is estimated at 1650 cfs. There has been no flow through the conduit since 10 a.m. June 7. It is unlikely that conduit flows will resume before July 3, 2007.

Lake Winnipegosis is presently at its highest level since the mid 1950’s. Additional shoreline flooding could occur in low areas if strong winds develop during the next six weeks.

Water levels remain very high in the Saskeram area west-northwest of The Pas. While no homes are flooded, there are continued difficulties with cattle due to flooded pastures.