Any runoff from spring snowmelt into the Souris River Basin will be limited. That is the take-away from preliminary analysis of the basin by the Saskatchewan Water Security Agency. Due to its potential for exceeding its banks the Souris River drainage is closely monitored for snowpack water content, soil moisture conditions, and other factors.
The Saskatchewan WSA, in their February analysis, concludes:
• Most of Saskatchewan experienced below-normal precipitation in 2023, leading to dry conditions before freeze-up, especially in the western region.
• The current snowpack ranges from below to well-below normal. If below normal conditions persist, this could result in drier than normal conditions and localized water supply shortages, especially in the agriculturally significant western region.
• In the Souris Basin, reservoirs are projected to be within normal operating ranges.
• Indicators suggest that there is a higher risk of agricultural and hydrological drought this year.
Souris Basin
WSA has achieved the regular February 1 drawdown elevations for Rafferty Reservoir and Grant Devine Lake. With near normal conditions at freeze-up in 2023 and what is currently projected to be below to well below normal snowpack, the snowmelt runoff response is expected to be below normal above the three reservoirs, and below normal below the reservoirs.
With the dry conditions in the basin, no additional releases will be required.
Detailed forecasts for the Souris River Basin are developed on or near the first and fifteenth of each month up until the snowmelt runoff event. These forecasts can be found on wsask.ca.
