'This is good news for us': Flood forecasters say river levels have peaked, no concern of coming weather system

Manitoba's river levels have mostly peaked and though there is rain in the forecast, flood forecasters say it won't lead to any significant issues.

Standing on the banks of the swollen Assiniboine River on Friday, Manitoba's Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Doyle Piwniuk said things are looking good for the province.

"Right now we find that the Red River has actually peaked in many places along the Red River Valley, so this is good news for us," he said.

"We actually dodged some bullets here, and it has been good."

Fisaha Unduche, the executive director of hydrologic forecasting and water management, said the spring runoff is mostly complete.

He said flows and levels in most central and southern Manitoba basins have already peaked, including on the Assiniboine, Saskatchewan and Pembina Rivers, and in the Interlake and Whiteshell regions.

"In most cases levels stayed within the banks, occasionally going over the banks in some rivers creating minor to moderate flooding," he said.

Unduche said the Red River is peaking this week north of Emerson, though the province expects to keep the Red River Flood way active until the last week of May.

He said most lakes are still ice-covered, but the 10-day forecast shows no major forecasted winds meaning the risk of ice pileup is very low for most Manitoba Lakes.

"Looking at future weather, we see multiple rounds of precipitation coming to parts of southern basins including the basins in the U.S.," he said, adding it could bring 10 to 15 mm of precipitation in the next seven to 10 days.

However, Unduche said this system will not create any major issues, though it may prolong the recession of water levels.

"For now, the worst of the spring runoff and its impact has passed," he said.

Johanu Botha, with Manitoba's Emergency Management Organization, said the intensity of this year's flood season was not nearly as bad as last year.

He said there were a couple of states of local emergency declared ,though only one is still active. There were road closures in 30 communities, and eight communities were in the pump stage.