**Updated at 9 a.m., Friday, June 4, 2021**

It appears residents in the Municipality of Rhineland have heeded the Reeve's call for reduced water usage. 

As of 9 a.m. Friday morning, Don Wiebe said consumption had gone down since he issued the plea Thursday morning, noting the Municipality managed to maintain water levels overnight and the local situation hadn't deteriorated. "We are generally, holding our own," he said.

In addition, Wiebe says restrictions appear to be working in the Kronsthal and Rosetown area which was in immediate risk of losing access to drinking water Thursday.

He encourages residents to keep up with conservation efforts in order to maintain this progress.

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The Reeve with the Municipality of Rhineland is pleading with ratepayers to immediately reduce their water usage in light of the critical situation playing out at the Pembina Valley Water Co-op's Letellier water treatment plant which services the area.

“Our potable supply of water is critically low,” explained Reeve Don Wiebe who is also Co-Chair of the Co-op. “The Letellier water plant is not able to keep up with demand, and we request that all water users restrict their usage immediately. This is the only way in which we were able to avoid a boiled water mandate.”

Earlier Thursday Pembina Valley Water Co-op C.E.O. Greg Archibald told PembinaValleyOnline it’s urgent for the public to reduce its water usage, noting at the current rate of use, if the Letellier plant were to break down for any reason, its reservoir would be empty in less than 6 hours.

Read More - Situation "Critical" At Water Co-op Letellier Plant, Public Urged To Reduce Usage

Wiebe noted at the time of this interview late Thursday morning, users in the Kronsthal and Rosetown area were in immediate risk of losing access to drinking water.

Meanwhile, officials with the City of Winkler are stressing to residents the importance of following the community's water conservation plan. The City is currently at Level 3 of that plan, severe, which does not permit yard watering with city supplied water, no pool filling, no car washing at private residences and a voluntary indoor reduction. In a Facebook post earlier today, the City noted staff are also following conservation plan guidelines by using non-potable water to water new plants. Non-potable water is water that is not treated, which means it does not go through the City's water treatment plant. 

Winkler staffer using non-potable water to water trees