The 1997 flood event in the Red River basin: Causes, assessment and damages

Figures & data

Figure 1. Red River drainage basin.

Figure 2. Major Red River flood control structures.

Figure 3. Daily maximum temperatures, Winnipeg, April 1997 (Rannie 1998b).

Table 1. Peak discharges and dates, Fargo, North Dakota, to Winnipeg.

Station	Peak Q	Date of peak
	(m^3/sec)
Downtown Winnipeg
(natural)^a	4590^b	May 4^b
(actual)	2270^b	May 4^b
Floodway inlet	3908^b	May 4^b
Ste. Agathe	3823^c	May 2^b
Morris	—	April 30^b
Emerson	3680^b	April 27^b
Grand Forks, ND	3880^d	April 22^d
Fargo, ND	791^e	April 18^d

^a Natural discharge refers to the estimated discharge which would have occurred without the use of the Red River Floodway, Portage Diversion or Shellmouth Dam.

^b Warkentin (1997).

^c Manitoba Natural Resources (1997e).

^d Todhunter (2001).

^e International Red River Basin Task Force (1997).

Figure 4. 1997 flooded area (“Red Sea”) in Manitoba, Z dike and 1826 flood limits.

Figure 5. (a) Routing of water during a design flood (after Mudry et al. 1981). (b) Routing of water on 4 May 1997.

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Manitoba Natural Resources. 1997e. Submission to the Manitoba Water Commission: Background information concerning Manitoba Natural Resources involvement in the 1997 flooding of the Red River valley. Winnipeg, MB.

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Todhunter, P. E. 2001. A hydroclimatological analysis of the Red River of the north snowmelt flood catastrophe of 1997. Journal of the American Water Resources Association 37(5): 1263–1278.

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