During the 1970s and 1980s, the Red River in Fargo discharged, on average, just under a half-million acre feet of water over the course of a year.
One acre foot is approximately 325,000 gallons of water. In each of the past two years, over 2 million acre feet of water has passed under the Main Avenue Bridge, including a bit over 2.5 million acre feet in 2009.
With more than four months left in the year, 2011 has already surpassed the 2-million-acre-feet milestone and is well ahead of the pace set in 2009.
Considering how high the Red River is currently and how high it is expected to be in the foreseeable future, the Red River is likely to best 2009 sometime in September.
Even if we have a dry autumn, there is already so much water upstream that will flow through Fargo that by the end of the year, nearly
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3 million acre feet of water may end up passing through town.
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