RED RIVER OF NORTH ECO SYSTEM ASSESSMENT WORKSHOP
November 2-3, 2005, The Days Inn Conference Center
600 30th Ave S Moorhead, MN

The workshop brought recognized experts in the field of biological monitoring and assessment on large rivers together with members of the Aquatic Ecosystem Committee (AEC) and other local resource managers to address key questions related to establishing reference sites and surveying biological community assemblages in the Red River of the North main stem - a large, non-wadeable river system. The workshop outcomes provide a foundation for recommendations to the International Red River Board and the International Joint Commission.

Background:

The International Water Institute (IWI) is working with the International Joint Commission (IJC), the International Red River Board (IRRB), and other partners to assess the ecological condition of the Red River Basin. The IRRB formed an Aquatic Ecosystem Committee charged with developing recommendations and implementation details for integrated monitoring, biological monitoring, and establishing a centralized water quality database.

In 2004 the IWI hosted a Reference Condition Workshop (Fritz 2004) to develop a common understanding of how the concept of reference condition (Bailey, et. al. 2004) is used to assess freshwater ecosystems and begin developing a defendable strategy to assess the Red River of the North with known statistical confidence along main stem from the headwaters at Lake Traverse to Lake Winnipeg. This workshop enabled the AEC to outline a research strategy for the main stem Red River that incorporates a common definition of reference condition, a stratification method to reduce natural variability, and probabilistic sampling methods. In 2005, North Dakota and Minnesota jointly implemented comparable assessment programs on U.S. tributaries to the Red River.

The IJC provided resources to the IWI to host a two-day workshop in 2005 that built on the previous work of the AEC. The workshop identified targeted biological communities and habitat parameters along with a suite of common sampling methods for the Red River main stem. The workshop established a comprehensive research and monitoring strategy that will eventually enable resources managers in the Red River Basin to assess the aquatic ecosystem with known statistical confidence.

Workshop Outcomes:

Expected outcomes included:
Identify targeted biological communities for monitoring
Establish common sampling methods for targeted biological communities.
Develop criteria for establishing reference sites and "other sites" of special interest on the main stem Red River.
Establish a reach selection design to select "test" sites along the main stem Red River
Establish a proposal development team responsible for preparing a detailed project narrative, budget, and timeline that incorporates the workshop outcomes

Deliverables:

The outcomes has been incorporated into a report to the IRRB and the IJC along with a comprehensive research proposal for the Red River main stem. The proposal detailed a monitoring program and research design to assess the main stem Red River that will ultimately serve as a foundation for the AEC to understand and report the status of the Red River ecosystem with known statistical confidence to the IRRB and the IJC.

For more information contact Chuck Fritz, Director IWI at (701)-231-9747 or charles.fritz@ndsu.edu