Minnesota Water Resources Conference - Water Resources Center ...

Poster Session 4:45–5:45
BOOK OF ABSTRACTS
Tuesday, Monday, October 27 23
City Sustainability—Water as Part of the Big Picture
Lisa Tilman, Emmons & Olivier Resources, Inc., ltilman@eorinc.com; and Brett Emmons, Emmons & Olivier Resources, Inc.
A City Sustainability Plan, one of the first in the state, is being prepared to guide the City of Burnsville in
implementation of fourteen Sustainability Best Practice Areas identified by the City. The Sustainability Plan
translates the city’s best practice goals into measurable implementation actions through a plan development
process that combined the expertise of a diverse project team with the ideas of a broad group of city staff.
This poster includes the activities developed for consideration by Burnsville to guide sustainable surface and
groundwater management and highlights the strong inter-relationship between water management and other
sustainability areas.
Taming the Lower Sheyenne River
Jeffry Volk, Moore Engineering, Inc., jvolk@mooreengineeringinc.com; John Wirries, Moore Engineering, Inc.
Flooding in the Red River Valley has been a challenge for Minnesota and North Dakota communities. The
Sheyenne River winds through deep ravines in Eastern North Dakota before spilling into the flat lake bottom
of ancient Lake Agassiz, where intermixing river systems give rise to overland flooding. In Cass County, North
Dakota, the local water resource districts have, for decades, searched for solutions to this flooding. These
solutions included levees, diversions, and upstream retention on both the Sheyenne and Maple Rivers. In 2006,
the last piece of a four part solution was implemented, retention on the Maple River.
Maple River Dam is located 40 miles southwest of Fargo, ND. The Maple River is a major tributary of the
Sheyenne River, making up nearly 40% of the watershed. Maple River Dam has available over 60,000 acre feet of
storage. Yet as a “dry dam” it retains no water except during a flood event. The use of a dry dam allows for flood
control while minimizing the environmental impacts of a dam. Together with other improvements, the Maple
River Dam helps to reduce flood damage in the lower Sheyenne River Watershed.
Minnesota Water Resources Conference, October 27–28, 20078 54