Increased water demands continue to be seen by the Pembina Valley Water Co-op. That from C.E.O. Dale Toews who noted all three water plants in Morris, Letellier and Stephenfield experienced single day production records in both May and June.
"A major complicating factor in determining how much water we can send out the door is dependent on the quality of raw water we have coming into the plant," he explained for the latest episode of Ripple Effect, presented by the Red River Basin Commission. "Stephenfield continues to be challenged with hardness in the water, and with the fluctuating Red River levels the raw water hardness increased significantly, which makes it difficult to soften. These are ongoing challenges our operators are continually facing."
As for water flows, according to Toews, the Co-op is in good shape right now.
"The Red River has decent flow, around 6,000 ft3/s, which is the average range for this time of year," he said. "Stephenfield lake operates on a rule curve, and so the Province manages its levels based on the needs of those who depend on it for irrigation or otherwise. While it has stopped spilling over the dam, and is just shy of the rule curve metric, we are in reasonably decent shape there."
Meanwhile, the Co-op has been working with the province and its partners through the Red River Basin Commission on the U.S. side on getting better modeling data for not only where the Red is currently, but what can be expected on the Canadian side coming from the U.S. in the next few weeks and months. Toews stressed, because of how dependent the Co-op is on those flows, the more information the better.
You can listen to the entire Ripple Effect conversation with Dale Toews, below.