Flood warning issued for Red River

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This article was published 04/04/2022 (1309 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A flood watch has been issued for the Red River from the American border to the Red River Floodway, in advance of a forecast of three days of rain and snow this week.

Manitoba Transportation and Infrastructure’s hydrologic forecast centre said Monday it expects the river to spill its banks at some places in the Red River Valley between April 8 and 15.

A weather system is expected to drop up to 30 millimetres of precipitation on southern Manitoba from Tuesday to Thursday, according to Environment Canada.

Boosted by snowmelt, water levels on the river are expected to peak between April 8 and 15, but the floodway will keep the levels in Winnipeg at James Avenue to a peak of between 17.3 to 18.3 feet from April 11 t0 16.

The water level reading at James Avenue was 15 feet Monday.

The Red River Floodway can’t be put into operation until the river ice breaks up and is cleared south of the inlet.

Ice is likely to clear by the end of this week, according to the province. The peak water flow is expected to be between 45,000 to 57,000 cubic feet per second.

The province will be deploying crews to a few communities near the Red River to watch water levels and decide whether to close dikes to protect people and property.

Water levels on the Assiniboine, Souris and Pembina rivers are all relatively low, with no flooding issues, the province said, noting the Portage Diversion could be operated to help water levels drop on the Assiniboine River if needed.

The risk of flooding on most of the major lakes remains low at this time, the province said.

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca