The Fairford River is a river

River

A river is a natural watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, a lake, a sea, or another river. In a few cases, a river simply flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water. Small rivers may also be called by several other names, including...

 of Manitoba

Manitoba

Manitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

. It flows into Lake Pineimuta and Lake St. Martin. The river is used to control the water level of Lake Manitoba

Lake Manitoba

Lake Manitoba is Canada's thirteenth largest lake and the world's 33rd largest freshwater lake. It is in central North America, in the Canadian province of Manitoba, which is named after the lake...

. Regulation of Lake Manitoba dates back to the late 1890s and in 1961 the current form of the dam on the river, the Fairford River Water Control Structure (FRWCS) was completed. In times of low water, outflows from Lake Manitoba into the Fairford River are reduced, while during high water levels the gates of the control structure are open to allow water to run down the river and into Lake Pinemuta and Lake St. Martin before eventually ending up in Lake Winnipeg via the Dauphin River

Dauphin River

The Dauphin River is a river of Manitoba, Canada. The Dauphin is part of the connection from Lake Manitoba to Lake Winnipeg. The Fairford River flows from Portage Bay in Lake Manitoba through to Lake St. Martin then the Dauphin River continues northeastward from Lake St. Martin into Lake Winnipeg....

. Using the Fairford Dam, the water levels were to be regulated between 810.5 and 812.5 feet above sea level. The average annual outflow from Lake Manitoba into the Fairford River between 1972-2001 was 2029198 acre.ft. During the Flood on Lake Manitoba in 2011, the Fairford River has taken on record flows of at least 22,000 cfs or more at times.