There were no major surprises in Saskatchewan's Spring Runoff report.

The report from the Water Security Agency shows below normal snowmelt is still expected in the far north, near normal over the central areas, and below normal runoff over much of the southern part of Saskatchewan.

Above normal snowfall in February increased the runoff potential for most areas, but drier conditions in the southern half of the province are expected to lower the runoff potential.

Patrick Boyle with the Water Security Agency:

"If we look at a typical spring going forward we're expecting it to be below normal around the Moose Jaw area. Certainly north of Moose Jaw could have some dryer conditions with a 'well below normal' situation."

One common area of concern each spring is the Moose Jaw River in Wakamow Valley, which Boyle says shouldn't be an issue this year.

"That area in Wakamow has been prone for ice-jamming. That's typically where we get a lot of the issues there as the ice comes off, things start to melt and move, we get an ice jam and you can get water backing up into certain areas. But right now as the actual flows go we're not expecting any issues in the Moose Jaw River and areas."

Boyle talked about how they come up with the spring run-off forecast and said there are 3 key elements to look at.

"There are 3 main factors; we look at the precipitation amounts that we had going into free-up in the fall of 2018, so how much water is on the landscape. As we go into winter we look at how much snow has actually fallen on the landscape, and the third thing is the amount of precipitation during spring runoff."

According to the latest report most of the province’s major reservoirs are expected to be adequate in 2019.

 

Photo courtesy of Water Security Agency