Water Resources of the Red River of the North Drainage Basin in Minnesota

The drainage basin of the Red River of the North within Minnesota, contains 17,800 square miles and has a largely rural population (I960) of 240,000. The physiography is flat and featureless except for a hilly region containing many lakes in the southeast part. Major water problems of the basin are poor distribution of water supply, drainage of wetlands, extensive areas subject to flooding, and pollution of surface water. Mean annual precipitation within the basin ranges from about 19 inches in the northwest to more than 25 inches in the southwest; however, large variation in rainfall occurs, and drought periods lasting several years are common. The average annual gross water yield is about 2 million acre-feet or about 1.7 inches of water over the basin. Most of the streams have low sustained natural flows. To develop surface-water .supplies as a source of supply storage is required; however, storage sites are generally lacking. Ground-water supplies adequate for domestic and stock purposes are available from sand and gravel units in the drift at most places in the basin. The principal aquifers are outwash sand and gravel, which generally will yield 50 gallons a minute or more to individual wells. Potentially, the most productive sand and gravel aquifers are in the northern part of the basin in Kittson County and along the Otter Tail River in the southeastern part of the basin. These are capable of yielding 1,000 gallons per minute to individual wells locally. Chemical quality of some of the waters of the Red River basin prevents their extensive use. Generally, the chemical quality of surface water is adequate for domestic and agricultural use. Water pollution problems occur locally in the basin, but the most serious are in the Red Lake River and the Red River of the North. The quality of ground water in the northwestern part of the basin is commonly very hard and contains high concentrations of iron which restricts its use for nearly all purposes. Calcium bicarbonate, the most common type of water in the basin, occurs in the morainal area and in the' upper part of the ground-water system in the Glacial Lake Agassiz region. Floods of the Red River of the North and its tributaries are typically sporadic, for although usually occurring in early to late spring, their dates and magnitude are subject to much variation. To alleviate flooding on tributaries, channel modification, principally straightening, has been done along critical reaches of the Red River. Flood control dams have been constructed on Otter Tail and Red Lake Rivers and one is being constructed on the Wild Rice River. Land areas drained artificially in the Red River basin ranged from less than 10 percent in the eastern part of the morainal area to more than 80 percent in the lake plain. Annual runoff in the basin is generally highest in spring and early summer, and lowest in late winter. Base flow from ground-water storage is relatively small for most of the streams, particularly for those in the lake plain. Much recharge to the ground-water system originates in the morainal area and discharges locally to nearby streams, lakes, and wetlands. The part of recharge that enters the deeper part of the ground-water reservoir in the morainal area moves laterally and discharges in a belt that lies near the edge of the lake plain and lake-washed till plain. Based on fluctuations of water level in wells and estimated specific yield, annual ground-water recharge to' the ground-water reservoir is about 3 to 5 inches.