Manitoba ramps up for flood fight as snow, ice melt

WINNIPEG – Preparations for the spring flood season in Manitoba are well underway as the province has thawed out over the past couple of weeks.

The Portage Diversion is ready to open in the next few days, the Amphibex fleet has finished breaking 29 kilometres of Red River ice and flows out of to the Fairford Control Structure have been reduced, the province said in news releases Thursday.

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The Portage Diversion could be opened in the near future to prevent ice jams on the Assiniboine between Portage la Prairie and Winnipeg, provincial officials said. The man-made diversion takes water from the Assiniboine River near Portage la Prairie and diverts it north to Lake Manitoba.

“Portage Reservoir inflows will be monitored for potential increases that may require operating the diversion in the next few days,” a news release states.

Meanwhile, the province’s fleet of three Amphibex ice breakers and seven ice cutters opened up 29 kilometres of the north Red River in record time, provincial officials said in another news release. Ice on the Red is an average of almost one metre thick, which is thicker than normal because of cold spells and low snow cover, the province said.

The crews will next move to the Icelandic, Brokenhead and Fisher rivers and the Portage Diversion to reduce the risk of ice jams along those waterways.

Meanwhile, flows out of the Fairford Control Structure between Lake Manitoba and Lake Winnipeg have been lowered to reduce the risk of ice jams on the Dauphin River downstream of Lake St. Martin.

Lake Manitoba at Steep Rock is currently at 813 feet, half a foot about its upper-level regulation range.

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