The city released nearly 60 million liters of sewage into the Winnipeg rivers over the weekend - a difficult decision it says was made to protect cities from flooding.

The rain and snow that swept through the city over the weekend brought up to 70.5 mm of precipitation according to Environment and Climate Change Canada, resulting in flooding of streets in the low-lying areas of the city.

Chris Carroll, Director of Sewer Services for the city's Water and Waste Department, said: "When it rains, the sewer system can fill up and overflow. When the sewer system exceeds its capacity," Carroll added, the city will divert the excess sewage flow into the city's river system.

He said that if the sewage was not disposed of, it would likely lead to flooding of people's homes.

He also stated that late Saturday night until Monday morning, the city released 59.6 million liters of sewage into the Winnipeg rivers. He said, "We do not take these decisions lightly. We don’t like having to do this."

"These are difficult decisions we have to make between letting the environment absorb part of the flow, compared to public health and the damage that could occur to property if you get sewage or diluted sewage backup in your home."

And at the end of his statement, he said this is a generational plan that will take decades to complete. It is not something that can be done quickly, nor is it something that can be done at a low cost. "Once these projects start, and we work on improving them gradually every year, the likelihood of such things happening decreases significantly."