A flood sheet for
the
Assiniboine River for May 18, 2006
is attached. It also shows conditions and forecasts for the Red
River in Winnipeg and for Red Deer Lake.
The Assiniboine River
valley is still flooded from Shellmouth to Grand Valley, although flooding
from the Oak Lake area to Grand Valley is limited to low lying portions only.
Levels from Russell to
Virden are falling at 0.25 to 0.6 feet per day. The river should fall below
bankfull at most points over the Victoria Day long weekend. The exception is
the Shellmouth area where overbank flows will continue until the end of next
week.
Portions of the Assiniboine
Valley which are flooded may require a week to 10 days of dry weather to drain
and dry after the river falls below bankfull. Rainfall during the next few
weeks will be very important.
The inflow to Shellmouth
Reservoir continues to decline very slowly due to a resurgence in flows coming
from the Sturgis area in Saskatchewan. However inflows should begin to subside
faster within a few days based on continued dry weather. The Reservoir water
level has been declining about one tenth of a foot per day.
The level of Red Deer Lake
declined one tenth of a foot at the community of Red Deer Lake since
yesterday. Some clean-up work has begun but the Lake will need to decline
about one foot further before all the buildings will be clear of water.
The level of the Red River
in downtown Winnipeg will decline very slowly during the next week or so. With
favourable weather the Forks walkways should emerge by May 29.
A shower of two may occur
today and some light rain could fall Saturday night to Sunday. This
precipitation should have little effect on river levels.
