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Manitoba Water Stewardship advises that water flowing out of the Shellmouth Reservoir on the Assiniboine River will be increased today to deal with recent heavy snowfalls in the region near Russell. Many areas of western Manitoba and eastern Saskatchewan received 30 millimetres of precipitation earlier this week.
 
This increased water flow may cause some minor ice jamming in the Russell and Millwood areas. No buildings will be affected but the Assiniboine River will become hazardous with more open water along the banks and slush on top of the ice.  Snowmobiling, skiing and other use of the river is not recommended following the rise in water levels.
 
The increased water flow from the reservoir will provide additional storage space to contain the spring melt later, reducing the extent of any potential spring flooding along the Assiniboine River. Water flowing out of the Shellmouth Reservoir will be increased to 42 cubic metres per second (1,500 cubic feet per second) from 23 cmps (800 cfps).
 
This increase will cause the Assiniboine River to rise approximately 0.76 metres (2.5 feet) at Shellmouth, 0.6 m (two ft.) from the Russell area to Miniota, 0.45 m (1.5 ft.) from Virden to Brandon, 0.3 m (one ft.) from Portage la Prairie to Route 90 in Winnipeg and 0.15 m (half a foot) or less from Osborne Street to The Forks in Winnipeg.  The rises will reach the Russell area tomorrow, Brandon about Feb. 19 and Winnipeg approximately Feb. 25.  Rises from Brandon to Winnipeg will be gradual over a period of three to five days.
 
Manitoba Water Stewardship will advise of any further operations of Shellmouth Reservoir which may have a significant effect on levels of the Assiniboine River.