Background on the March 13-14, 2007 Flooding in Browns Valley (Traverse County), Minnesota: Report to the Minnesota Governor's Office

Background on the March 13-14, 2007 Flooding in Browns Valley (Traverse County), Minnesota: Report to the Minnesota Governor's Office

2007

Browns Valley is a community of approximately 650 people in the southerly corner of Traverse County, near the South Dakota border (see Figures 1 and 2). The Little Minnesota River flows through town. The city is located on an ancient floodplain, with very flat local topography, facilitating widespread flooding within the municipal limits. A ridge running northwest-southeast along the margin of the floodplain can increase flooding impacts to Browns Valley in two ways, by preventing the spread of flood waters in the ridgeward direction and by contributing surface runoff from the ridge down to the valley. Local hydrologic patterns are further complicated by the fact that Browns Valley is very near the watershed divide between the Minnesota River headwaters to the south and the Bois de Sioux watershed to the north. Climatic conditions this past winter helped create the set of circumstances leading to the March 13-14, 2007 flood. The extraordinarily cold February weather, coupled with the lack of snow, contributed to very thick ice formation. Warming weather and strong sunshine in mid-March, culminating in a high of 55 degrees Fahrenheit on March 12, promoted very fast melting and the movement of large blocks of ice on the Little Minnesota River. These ice blocks flowed downstream to Browns Valley, where they became lodged beneath bridges over the river. This created ice jams that backed up water and caused the flood of March 13 and 14, 2007.

Minnesota Department of Natural Resources

16

Surface Water
Water Restoration & Protection

flood control system
flood control systems
flood controlling system
flood controlling systems
flooding
floods
flood
extreme flood
extreme floods
flood defense
flood defenses
flood plain
flood plains
flood plain management
flood plain managements
floodplain
floodplains
flood damage
flood-damage
flood history
flood management
flood managements
flood-management
flood-managements
flood damage reduction
flood damage reductions
Traverse County
Browns Valley

2000-2009

No

Public Domain

Minnesota Water Research Digital Library