There's still snow on the ground throughout southern Manitoba, but some communities north of Winnipeg are already starting to prepare for a spring flood.

The Rural Municipality of St. Clements has already set up new Hesco barriers around homes that may be at risk of flooding in the weeks and months to come.

A house is surrounded by ice on the banks of the Red River in the St. Clements area in April 2009. This year, ice conditions on the river are the worst in recent years, says St. Clements Mayor Steve Strang. (John Woods/Canadian Press)

Hesco barriers are large wire cages, lined with heavy-duty fabric, that can be quickly unfolded and filled with dirt, sand or mud.

Municipal Mayor Steve Strang says ice conditions on the Red River are the worst he has seen in the last few years.

"You bet your bottom dollar we're going to see flooding in Manitoba this year," he told CBC News on Thursday.

"To [what] degree, it's hard to say. I mean, you can never predict what Mother Nature will do. But the bottom line is you got to be ready."

Strang said most of the ice along the river has been broken up, but it is still very thick.

More than 30 kilometres of ice have been broken up so far this year to help prevent ice jams from forming.

"We can't predict ice jams, we can't predict how severe they are going to be, we can't predict if the Red River and the Assiniboine River would peak together," Strang said.

"What we can do is think of the worst-case scenario and be ready for it."

Strang said the municipality has ordered a new sandbag-making machine, as volunteers are becoming tired and harder to find with every flood season.

Officials in the town of Emerson, Man., located by the Canada-U.S. border, have started ordering pumps and equipment in the event of flooding.

The Manitoba government will release its updated flood forecast on Monday.