Information/Data Needs for Floodplain Management
The Red River Basin Workshop Report

Preface

The Red River of the North drainage basin covers portions of North Dakota, Minnesota and Manitoba, and is a tremendously rich agricultural area. It is also a tremendously flat region that was once the bottom of an ancient lakebed. Accordingly, it is marked by periodic episodes of flooding. According to a report prepared by the Red River Water Resources Council, records indicate that major flooding of this watershed prevailed in 18 of the previous 120 years. The paradox presented by living in an agriculturally attractive area that is, at the same time, hazard-prone poses unique land management challenges.

The most recent flood event occurred in 1997, causing extensive damage throughout the Red River Valley. A binational task force was subsequently formed, under the direction of the International Joint Commission (IJC), to make recommendations for how to reduce future flood damages within the Red River Basin. One of the key recommendations that arose from the task force deliberations called for the development of a relevant information base that would allow for the integration of data and information in support of monitoring and alerting procedures.

At the same time that the IJC was crafting its comments, a separate initiative - the Global Disaster Information Network (GDIN) - was underway within the U.S. Federal Government. The aim of GDIN is to promote a more effective exchange of information and resources in support of disaster management. The concept of a relevant information base within the Red River was well suited to the goals laid out in the GDIN design.

Three workshops jointly sponsored by the IJC and the GDIN program were held within the Red River Basin to solicit feedback on the type of data and information needs that arise from resident stakeholder interests. This report synthesizes the results of those workshops and also provides the basis for framing an information network approach that has relevance to a widely disparate information user/provider community.