Establishing a Foundation for Ecological Infrastructure Investments in the Red River Basin

The report outlines the foundational research for a decision support system (DSS) to facilitate ecological infrastructure investments in the Red River Basin. It identifies critical data gaps, particularly in high-resolution elevation data for Canada, and evaluates existing hydrological and ecosystem models. The project emphasizes the need for harmonized transboundary data and a common vision for basin management to address chronic flooding and the eutrophication of Lake Winnipeg.

• A critical data gap exists regarding high-resolution elevation data in the Canadian portion of the basin. While LIDAR data is available for the U.S. and some parts of Canada, substantial areas in Canada lack coverage; coordinated collection could cost between US$0.9 million and C$3.4 million.
• The development of an effective DSS is hindered by the lack of an overarching vision with defined goals and objectives, as well as significant knowledge gaps regarding biophysical processes, specifically dissolved phosphorus dynamics and water retention on the landscape.
• To ensure compatibility across state and provincial boundaries, the project recommends establishing shared protocols for gathering and processing data and developing harmonized data sets.
• The proposed DSS architecture should utilize the Open MI (Open Modelling Interface) protocol to allow different models and datasets to remain separate yet interoperable, potentially leveraging cloud computing to reduce costs and improve performance.
• The report identifies several existing models useful for the RRB, including SWAT for water quality and land-management impacts, HEC-RAS for flood forecasting, and MIKE-11 for flood flow reduction strategies.
• The project selected three case studies to pilot the DSS: the Giroux Bog restoration in the La Coulee sub-watershed (Manitoba) to reduce nutrient inputs and flooding, the Palmville Fen restoration (Minnesota) to protect downstream cities from flooding, and the federal Agricultural Water Enhancement Program (AWEP) to prioritize water quality resources.
• The AWEP initiative in the RRB received US$2,615,352 in 2010 funding to implement strategies such as sugar beet cover crops, beach ridge erosion reduction, and restricted flow sediment pools.
• Socioeconomic and demographic data are generally available through Statistics Canada and the U.S. Census Bureau, but they require disaggregation or aggregation to be useful at the basin and watershed scales.
• Infrastructure information is currently fragmented across various government levels and agencies, making it difficult to track; the report suggests a centralized public website, possibly via the Lake Winnipeg Portal, to identify ecological investment opportunities.

APA

Voora, V., Gislason, R., Zubrycki, K., & Perlmutter, S. (2011). Establishing a Foundation for Ecological Infrastructure Investments in the Red River Basin. International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/establishing_foundation.pdf

Chicago

Voora, Vivek, Robin Gislason, Karla Zubrycki, and Sara Perlmutter. Establishing a Foundation for Ecological Infrastructure Investments in the Red River Basin. International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2011. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/establishing_foundation.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Voora |first1=Vivek |last2=Gislason |first2=Robin |last3=Zubrycki |first3=Karla |last4=Perlmutter |first4=Sara |title=Establishing a Foundation for Ecological Infrastructure Investments in the Red River Basin |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |date=2011 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/establishing_foundation.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{voora2011establishing, author = {Voora, Vivek and Gislason, Robin and Zubrycki, Karla and Perlmutter, Sara}, title = {{Establishing a Foundation for Ecological Infrastructure Investments in the Red River Basin}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2011}, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/establishing_foundation.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }