Effective immediately, the Pembina Valley Water Co-op is requesting a mandatory 15 per cent water reduction to member municipalities and water co-ops serviced by the Letellier water treatment plant.

PVWC CEO, Greg Archibald, explains the plant has been running at maximum capacity for the last few days.

"Right now, there's certainly adequate water in the Red River but our infrastructure doesn't allow us to pull any more water out, and with the hot weather expected, it's putting a strain on our system," he said, noting there's about 90 l/second going out of the plant.

"We're working on trying to get the reservoirs filled up and getting water for all of our customers, so the focus is going to be to cut back a bit, try to get a fifteen per cent reduction and hopefully that will be adquate to maintain water for the system," added Archibald.

Affected areas include:
- Town of Altona
- R.M. of Montcalm
- R.M. of Stanley
- City of Winkler
- Municipality of Emerson-Franklin
- Municipality of Rhineland
- City of Morden
- Altona Rural Water Coop
- Roseau River First Nations
- Halbstadt Marais Water Coop

Archibald says the situation will be monitored daily.

Information regarding specific water restrictions will come directly from the municipalities, added Archibald.

Click here for some water conservation tips.