US Fish & Wildlife Service

 

Date of this Version

2005

Comments

Published by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 1-7, (2005)

Abstract

Under the auspices of the Dakota Water Resources Act (DWRA) of 2000, the Secretary of the Interior has been directed to conduct a comprehensive study of the water quality and quantity needs of the Red River Valley and the options for meeting those needs. As such, the Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) requested technical support from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Columbia Environmental Research Center (CERC) for an evaluation of the risks and economic consequences of biota transfers potentially associated with interbasin water transfers that might occur between the Upper Missouri River and the Red River of the North (Red River) basins. This project report summarizes the technical findings of CERC staff and their Department of the Interior (DOI) partners in the National Park Service (NPS) with respect to these concerns regarding interbasin biota transfer. This technical report consists of six sections with accompanying appendices. Section 1 provides a brief overview of the project and the historic context for this evaluation focused on potential biota transfers. Section 2 summarizes the technical tools applied to the analysis of risks and economic consequences that are summarized in Section 3. Section 4 characterizes the risks potentially associated with biota transfers directly resulting from interbasin water transfers and competing pathways, while the economic consequences that are derivatives of those risks are considered in Section 5. Section 6 presents a summary of risks and economic consequences detailed in the report. A series of appendices provides detailed technical materials that support the analysis of risks, economic consequences, and their attendant uncertainties.

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