Increasing urbanization in one of the flattest places on Earth has made the relatively young Red River highly susceptible to flooding, said North Dakota State geology professor Don Schwert.
The Red River, which begins in Wahpeton, N.D., and dumps into Lake Winnipeg in Manitoba, has reached the flood stage of 17 feet in Fargo-Moorhead every year since 1993, albeit most flooding has been minor, Schwert said.
Sharp and rapid crests, Schwert said, can be attributed to increased urbanization, where buildings, parking lots and efficient drainage systems have replaced natural prairie land in the Fargo-Moorhead area.
There is consistent flooding because the Red River flows across an incredibly flat surface, averages less than 1,000 feet in width in the F-M area and is relatively young, Schwert said.
"The Red River did not begin to flow until Lake Agassiz could drain, and that was about 9,300 years ago," Schwert said. "The river ... has had so little time to carve its tiny valley that when it floods, it spills onto what was the bed of Lake Agassiz."
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Because of heavy rainfall in central North Dakota and parts of eastern Minnesota, the Red River water level in Fargo-Moorhead will rise about 5 inches, cresting at 23.1 feet by Sunday, said Bill Barrett, a meteorologist intern at the National Weather Service Grand Forks, N.D.
F-M will experience substantial problems only if water levels reach 28 feet, and with levels peaking around 23 feet by Sunday, Barrett said the F-M area will experience only nuisance flooding.
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