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PREFACE This report documents water quality trends and exceedances of objectives, effluent releases, and control measures for the Red River basin for the 2012 Water Year (October 01, 2012 through September 30, 2013). In addition, this report describes the activities of the International Red River Board during the reporting period October 01, 2013 to September 30, 2014 and identifies several current and future water quality and water quantity issues in the basin. The units of measure presented in this report are those of the respective agencies contributing to this report. TABLE OF CONTENTS 1.0 SUMMARY 1 1.01 WATER QUALITY AND WATER QUALITY 1 1.02 INTERNATIONAL RED RIVER BOARD ACTIVITIES 3 1.03 INTERNATIONAL RED RIVER BOARD THREE YEAR WORK PLAN (2012-2015) 4 2.0 INTRODUCTION 5 3.0 INTERNATIONAL RED RIVER BOARD MEMBERSHIP 7 4.0 INTERNATIONAL RED RIVER BOARD ACTIVITIES 9 4.01 INTERIM AND ANNUAL BOARD MEETINGS 9 4.02 IJC INTERNATIONAL WATERSHEDS INITIATIVE 9 4.03 IMPROVING THE INFORMATION BASE TO ADDRESS TRANSBOUNDARY ISSUES 10 4.03-1 WATER QUALITY MONITORING AT THE INTERNATIONAL BOUNDARY AND RED RIVER BASIN 11 4.03-2 WATER QUALITY AND ECOSYSTEM HEALTH 11 4.03-3 INTERNATIONAL WATER QUALITY OBJECTIVES FOR NUTRIENTS 12 4.03-4 WATER QUANTITY APPORTIONMENT 14 4.04 COMPREHENSIVE FLOOD MITIGATION STRATEGY 16 4.05 INVASIVE SPECIES – ZEBRA MUSSELS 19 4.06 LOWER PEMBINA RIVER FLOODING 20 4.07 POPLAR RIVER BASIN 22 5.0 WATER QUALITY AT THE INTERNATIONAL BOUNDARY 23 5.01 WATER QUALITY OBJECTIVES 23 5.02 ALERT LEVELS 24 6.0 WATER QUALITY SURVEILLANCE PROGRAMS 26 6.01 MINNESOTA 26 6.02 NORTH DAKOTA 35 6.03 MANITOBA 39 7.0 WATER POLLUTION CONTROL 44 7.01 CONTINGENCY PLAN 45 7.02 SPILLS AND RELEASES 45 7.03 POLLUTION ABATEMENT AND ADVISORIES 46 8.0 BIOLOGICAL MONITORING IN THE RED RIVER BASIN 54 8.01 MICRO-INVERTEBRATES OF THE RED RIVER IN MANITOBA 54 8.02 ESCHERECHIA COLI AND ALGAL BLOOM MONITORING IN LAKE WINNIPEG 56 8.03 FISHERIES OF THE RED RIVER IN MANITOBA 58 9.0 ADDITIONAL ACTIVITIES IN THE RED RIVER BASIN 62 9.01 GARRISON DIVERSION PROJECT 66 9.02 DEVILS LAKE SUB-BASIN 69 9.03 U.S. ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS FLOOD CONTROL ACTIVITIES 72 9.04 U.S.G.S. WATER RESOURCES INVESTIGATIONS AND ACTIVITIES 78 i International Red River Board – 15th Annual Progress Report - October 2014 LIST OF TABLES 1 EXCEEDENCES OF ALERT LEVELS – RED RIVER AT INTERNATIONAL BOUNDARY 25 2 CURRENT RED RIVER OF THE NORTH WATERSHED POLLUTANT LOAD MON. SITES 33 3 LEVEL 1 - NORTH DAKOTA AMBIENT WATER QUALITY MONITORING SITES IN THE RED 36 RIVER BASIN 4 LEVEL 2 - NORTH DAKOTA AMBIENT WATER QUALITY MONITORING SITES IN THE RED 34 RIVER BASIN 5 LEVEL 3 - NORTH DAKOTA AMBIENT WATER QUALITY MONITORING SITES IN THE RED 37 RIVER BASIN 6 NORTH DAKOTA AMBIENT WATER QUALITY MONITORING PARAMETERS 38 7 ROUTINE SURFACE WATER QUALITY MONITORING VARIABLES SAMPLED BY 42 MANITOBA CONSERVATION & WATER STEWARDSHIP ON THE RED RIVER AND TRIBUTARIES WITHIN MANITOBA, CANADA 8 GEOGRAPHIC COORDINATES FOR THE BENTHIC MICROINVERTEBRATES SAMPLING 54 STATIONS AT EMERSON AND SILKIRK ON THE RED RIVER, MANITOBA IN SEPT. 2013 9 SUMMARY OF MICRO-INVERTEBRATES COLLECTED PER TRANSECT AND CALCULATED 55 TOTAL PER SQ.M. IN POOLED PONAR DREDGE SAMPLES FROM THE RED RIVER AT EMERSON, MANITOBA IN SEPTEMBER 2013 10 SUMMARY OF MICRO-INVERTEBRATES COLLECTED PER SQ.M. IN POOLED PONAR 56 DREDGE SAMPLES FROM THE RED RIVER AT SILKIRK, MANITOBA IN SEPTEMBER 2013 11 RECREATIONAL BEACHES IN LAKE WINNIPEG SOUTH BASIN MONITORED IN 2013 57 12 FISH SPECIES OF THE RED RIVER IN MANITOBA 61 13 DEVILS LAKE ANNUAL INFLOW FOR 2013 69 14 DEVILS LAKE - SUMMARY OF EXTENT OF DISCHARGE FROM THE OUTLETS FOR 67 PORTION OF 2014 15 DEVILS LAKE – SUMMARY OF THE VOLUME AND INCHES OF WATER REMOVED FROM 67 THE LAKE SINCE PUMPING WAS STARTED IN 2005 LIST OF FIGURES 1 RED RIVER AND ITS TRIBUTARIES 6 2 PEMBINA RIVER BASIN 21 3 WATERSHED APPROACH - SPAWNS PROCESS IN MINNESOTA 27 4 DISCHARGE VS DATE HYDROGRAPH SHOWING 35 LOAD SAMPLES RR AT GRAND FORKS 30 5 ESTIMATED PHOSPHORUS CONCENTRATIONS VS DATE PLOTTED ON DAILY FLOW 30 6 WATERSHED POLLUTANT LOAD MONITORING NETWORK - MN 31 7 CURRENT RED RIVER OF THE NORTH WATERSHED POLLUTANT LOAD MON. SITES 32 8 2013 FLOW WEIGHTED MEAN CONCENTRATIONS – ANNUAL LOAD & ANNUAL VOLUME 34 9 NORTH DAKOTA AMBIENT WATER QUALITY MONITORING SITES IN THE RR BASIN 37 10 LOCATIONS OF WATER QUALITY AND BENTHIC INVERTEBRATE SAMPLES SITES IN THE 41 RED RIVER WATERSHED (MB) 11 WATERSHED RESTORATION AND ABATEMENT PROJECT IN THE RED RIVER BASIN, ND 50 12 RED RIVER VALLEY WATER SUPPLY STUDY PROJECT ALTERNATIVE ROUTES 64 13 DEVILS LAKE OUTLET- WATER QUALITY & DISCHARGE SUMMARY 68 14 DEVILS LAKE HISTORIC WATER SURFACE ELEVATIONS 70 15 DEVILS LAKE NEAR DEVILS LAKE WATER SURFACE ELEVATIONS-2010-2014 71 ii International Red River Board – 15th Annual Progress Report - October 2014 APPENDIX A INTERNATIONAL RED RIVER BOARD DIRECTIVE APPENDIX B WATER QUALITY OBJECTIVES WATER QUALITY ALERT LEVELS APPENDIX C WATER POLLUTIONS CONTROL CONTINGENCY PLAN – LIST OF CONTACTS APPENDIX D HYDROLOGY COMMITTEE AND AQUATIC ECOSYSTEM COMMITTEE MEMBERSHIP LIST iii International Red River Board – 15th Annual Progress Report - October 2014 1.0 SUMMARY 1.01 Water Quantity and Water Quality Water Quantity in 2013 Stream flows for much of the Red River Basin were at normal (25-75 percentile) levels by the spring of 2014 due to carryover from heavy summer/fall rains the preceding year. A deep frost layer, wet soils in the southern basin, and a near normal snowpack (increasing from south to north) led to spring runoff flooding in the minor to moderate range for most main stem tributaries and moderate to near major flooding on the Red River by May. The spring was followed by an active weather pattern that subsequently produced peaks at or above the spring levels for many stream gages and led to overall conditions in the above normal range (>75 percentile) for most stream gages this summer. The Red River at Fargo crested on June 23 at 27.84 ft. (provisional), with a discharge of 10,400 cfs, in the upper quartile (21st) for the 114 years of record. The exceedance probability for the spring peak was in the 0.10 to 0.20 range. The Red River at Grand Forks crested on Apr. 13 at 36.24 ft. (provisional) with a peak discharge of 29,000 cfs, the 38th highest peak in 133 years of record. The exceedance probability for the peak was between 0.20 and 0.50. The Red River at Grand Forks passed 3.39 million acre-ft between October 2012 and September 2013, the same period in 2011 produced a record 10.3 million ac-ft. Spring runoff into Devils Lake caused an approximate increase of 1.25 ft. (from a 52.40 ft. winter level to 53.66 ft. on July 1). The lake level has been dropping since the early July high thanks in part to pumping from Devils Lake West End Outlet (250 cfs capacity) and the Devils Lake East End Outlet (350 cfs capacity) which began in late May (interrupted intermittently in June as upper threshold flow limits on the Sheyenne River dictated). In the Red River Basin, the USGS North Dakota Water Science Center works in cooperation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; U.S. Bureau of Reclamation; International Joint Commission of the U.S. State Department; Manitoba Provincial Government; National Weather Service; North-Central River Forecast Center; Minnesota Department of Natural Resources; North Dakota State Water Commission; North Dakota Department of Health; U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs; several water resource boards and districts; and other Federal, State and local water resources managers. Data and information shared among the agencies and offices helped in flood mitigation, water regulation, and water resource planning. Precipitation during the autumn of 2012 was well below normal in most of southern Manitoba and in the North Dakota and Minnesota portions of the Red River Basin. As a result of below normal precipitation, soil moisture was well below normal at freeze-up and significantly less than that experienced in 2010 prior to the widespread 2011 flooding. However, winter precipitation in southern Manitoba and in the U.S. portion of the Red River basin was near normal to well above normal. Snow water content prior to snowmelt in 2013 was above average and up to 200 per cent of normal for some areas. Significant snow accumulation in March led to the flood outlook for the Red River increasing from “minor to moderate” to “moderate to major”. The weather in April was abnormally cold in southern Manitoba with daily mean temperature staying below zero until the end of April. The weather continued to be very dry until the time of freeze-up in autumn 2012 and thus the water levels in the Red River were well below normal. Tributaries contributed very little discharge if any until the spring freshet in 2013. th International Red River Board – 15 Annual Progress Report - October 2014 1 The Red River peaked later and higher than in normal years due to the combination of above normal winter precipitation and abnormally prolonged cold spring weather. The melt occurred rapidly which caused rapid rises and ice jams on tributaries. The Red River crested at Emerson, Manitoba on May 7, 2013 at a level of 784.2 feet (239.03 metre) and a flow of about 45,200 cubic feet per second (1280 cubic metre per second).