Project Background

The Red River of the North (Red River), located within the north-central portion of the North American continent whose drainage area includes portions of South Dakota, North Dakota, Minnesota and Manitoba, is unpredictable for the many residents whose daily lives can be influenced by the river.  A major river system that flows north, the Red River has a long history of flooding.  However, the 1997 flood caused more property damage, loss of life and disruption than any of the preceding floods.  Catastrophic damages occurred to the residents of Grand Forks, North Dakota, East Grand Forks, Minnesota, and Ada, Minnesota as these communities substantially or completely flooded.  Although literally within a few inches of complete overtopping of protective levees and dikes, Winnipeg, Manitoba successfully repelled this flood, but feels a similar or larger future flood is a certainty.  Communities all along the Red River have their tale of fighting the 1997 flood and innumerable homes and buildings scattered throughout the basin were inundated.

Just getting out of the way of the flood is an immense challenge within the Red River Basin, because of the flood mechanism.  Springtime flooding across the regions strikingly flat terrain is often caused by spring rains falling on snow, with coincident snowmelt.  The mechanism for summer floods is more complex, the subject of numerous past and ongoing investigations.

There were numerous discussions immediately following the 1997 flood about the need for better information and data, different types of data especially geo-spatial (GIS) data and improved tools for flood fighting.  The International Joint Commission (IJC) recognized the need for data useful to flood fighting and water management and began development of the Red River Basin Disaster Information System (RRBDIN).  The IJC, cooperating with the Global Disaster Information Network, intended the RRBDIN to be an internet-based decision-making support tool for flood related emergency management within the Red River Basin.  The intent was to make data available to those responsible for solving these flooding problems, fostering international cooperation and strengthening inter-organizational ties.

The RRBDIN was originally conceived as a method to provide access to multiple sources of data and information across the Internet (distributed database), through a map interface tool.  Numerous activities and tasks were completed during the first phase of RRBDIN development.  The tasks completed include the initial development of the web site, defining the data needs of users and conceptually developing tools believed useful to local decision makers.  The initial project phase completed in 2000 also identified a number of significant challenges related to:

• Non-uniform standards and formats for geo-spatial data between states, Canada and the United States;

• The inaccessibility of geo-spatial data within Canada;

• The general lack of geo-spatial data; and

• Technological limitation for the implementation of internet-based tools.

To provide feedback on RRBDIN development please provide comment or contact:

Charles Fritz    
Director, International Water Institute
1805 Research Park Drive, NDSU
Fargo, ND 58102    
Office: (701) 231-9747    
Mobile: (701) 388-0861    
Email: charles.fritz@ndsu.edu    
www.internationalwaterinstitute.org  
<http://www.internationalwaterinstitute.org/>