Water levels at Buffalo Pound may be slightly below normal, but Patrick Boyle of the Saskatchewan Water Security Agency said they'll be diverting water from Lake Diefenbaker to make up the difference.

Dry conditions and a below average runoff have put the water levels in the Qu'Appelle and Buffalo Pound Lakes below the top of the operating levels.

“We are expecting both lakes to be within their desirable summer operating levels,” said Boyle. “And right now, Buffalo Pound is at about 509.4 metres. And that’s roughly seven centimetres below the top of their operating range.”

A lower than average runoff for the spring and persistent dry conditions have created the need to divert water from Diefenbaker. Close to a quarter of the province’s population draws their water from Buffalo Pound, including the cities of Moose Jaw and Regina.

Boyle said they try to keep the levels up to the top of the range, and over the next couple of weeks, they will start to divert from Diefenbaker. He said you'd have to have a number of sustained dry years to be concerned about too much water getting diverted from Diefenbaker.

“Lake Diefenbaker, the benefit of it when it was built in the 1950s, the forethought that was put into that, is it can hold a significant amount. It’s such a large body of water and it’s help designed against those specific situations,” he said.

“We’re not expecting any real change from Buffalo Pound this year as far as levels go, or any concerns in that respect.”

Outflows at Gardiner Dam will be maintained at 70 cubic metres per second, which is similar to outflows over the past three summers.

Water levels across southern Saskatchewan are closely monitored by the WSA, including those at Last Mountain, Pasqua, Echo, Mission, Katepwa, Crooked and Round Lakes. The province said that most lakes are within their summer operating ranges, with the exception of Round Lake, which is 85 centimetres below their mark.

If conditions remain dry, lake levels throughout the Qu’Appelle River System which effects most of southern Saskatchewan are expected to be close to last year’s levels.