MINOT — The status of the Souris River Basin is much different now from what it was a few weeks ago. Late spring snow and the rains that followed have brought the basin from very dry to just enough water for the time being.
Despite the recent rise in water levels throughout the basin there is no imminent danger of flooding. What the recent increased moisture has done though, is raise the level of reservoirs along the basin from very low to more seasonal levels.
At Lake Darling northwest of Minot, concern had been mounting over the lack of water in the Souris River system and a lake that had fallen to near historic lows. Much has changed however, with Lake Darling rising to with a couple of inches of its summer operating level of 1,597 feet as of Wednesday.
Snowmelt and rainfall greatly boosted input into the lake where the Souris River at Sherwood was flowing at more than 1,000 cubic feet per second for several days. That gauge is considered the major indicator of water entering Lake Darling.
With that amount of water entering the long impoundment, the gates at Lake Darling Dam were opened to approximately 225 cfs on May 19. Those gates were closed Tuesday due to a declining inflow at the Sherwood gauge where Wednesday’s reading was 360 cfs and dropping.
By far the largest impoundment on the Souris is Rafferty Reservoir near Estevan, Saskatchewan. That facility stood at 1,800.6 feet Wednesday, about three feet below its customary summer operating level and 17 feet below spillway level.
A second Saskatchewan reservoir, Grant Devine near Alameda, Sask., had a reading of 1,843 feet Wednesday, a foot below its preferred summer operating level and 17 feet below spillway level. Additionally, flows in Moose Mountain Creek, which feeds Grant Devine, have declined significantly in recent days. So too have the flows in Long Creek which flows into Boundary Reservoir, a power plant impoundment near Estevan.
The recent influx of water into the Souris River system provided a much-needed boost to water levels, but not so much as to raise concerns about having too much water in the system.
