The Pembina Valley Water Co-op has implemented some new procedures to take some pressure off its Letellier water treatment plant.

The utility has made some adjustments on how some of its nearby member municipalities fill their reservoirs.

Municipalities like Rhineland, Altona and Stanley are now filling their reservoirs with water from Letellier at a much more gradual rate to reduce the wide swings in flows and pressure that can occur at this time of year, according to Water Co-op CEO Greg Archibald.

"It's a new process that we've been implementing and it looks like the RMs are going to be able to stay more consistent with the fill rates. This helps us quite a bit because then, if it does get a little dry, we're trying to keep the reservoirs full but we don't want them to just crank open their valves and fill too quickly."

PVWC had to implement a voluntary restriction on water usage for several weeks as demand for water was outpacing the Letellier water plant's ability to produce it.

Archibald says another process which involves the City of Winkler is also helping to take some pressure off the Letellier plant.

Winkler has agreed to supply most of its own water during the summer months and the PVWC would provide most of the city's water in winter.

"That move has actually helped offload Letellier," said Archibald.

He added, all of these new processes are helping PVWC with the overall control of water distribution.