Riverwalk at The Forks is already high and dry

Thefirst portion of the riverwalkat The Forks is open for the summer.

After a minor spring flood, theRed River and lower Assiniboinereceded below the level of the riverwalk on Wednesday, according to Winnipeg's public works department.

The Forks immediately cleaned its portion of the walk, which opened to pedestrians on Thursday.

Over the weekend, The Forks will reinstalllighting,garbage and recycling bins, handrails and information panels along the walk, Forksmarketing co-ordinator LarissaPeck said in a statement.

The City of Winnipeg will soon clean its portion of the riverwalk, along Assiniboine Avenue, while Parks Canada will follow suit along the Red River, Peck said.

• Assiniboine Riverwalk opens at The Forks on Saturday

The riverwalk was submerged entirely this spring for 18 days, from April 22 to May 9.

In 2017, it was submerged for 78 days, from Feb. 28 until May 16.

It was not submerged at all during the spring of 2016, but was submerged for two weeks in June that year due to heavy rains.

• No summer floodway use to control Winnipeg river levels: report

A report published by the province in 2016stated it would be impractical to use the Red River Floodway to control river levels throughout the summer and fall due to the negative upstream effects of operating the control structure.