Weyburn residents concerned the weekend snow dump could translate into an overflowing Souris River have nothing to worry about, said city engineer Bob Kinash.
"The snowfall didn't change anything," said Kinash, thanks to the cool weather that has provided for a slow spring melt.
"The ideal weather has occurred, and it pretty much stopped any (flood) threat," Kinash added.
He expects high flows in the portion of the river near Weyburn, but not so high that the water will spill out over the banks.
Kinash said the city monitors the upstream flow of the river, and the three creeks that come into the city and join with the Souris.
"It's all looking good," said Kinash.
Sask Water's Alex Banga agrees.
"In the Weyburn area we've already seen the peak of the runoff last week. What will happen as a result of the snow we experienced over the weekend is that the flows will remain a little higher for a little longer, but we won't have another flood peak," said Banga.
The amount of water into the system from the snow pack will be determined by the temperatures experienced over the next several days, said Banga.
However, it's not looking as good for land owners further south.
Sask Water has urged continued caution for Estevan-area motorists driving in and around the Souris River where the spring runoff, compounded by the weekend snowfall, is producing high volumes and swift flows.
Although no widespread flooding of the area is anticipated, flooding of some low-level crossings has occurred.
Due to more than 10 cm of fresh snow, Sask Water will be increasing discharges from Rafferty Dam this week. The combined rate of release from Boundary and Rafferty Dams will increase from 50 cubic metres per second to 60 as soon as today. While these measures will result in high water flows, water levels downstream of Rafferty are not expected to surpass levels reached on Easter Sunday.
Water levels will remain high until mid-April as upstream flows make their way through the system. These releases were planned in consultation with downstream officials in North Dakota and Manitoba.
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