RedN NAWQA
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Red River of the North Basin
National Water-Quality Assessment Program
Strobel, M.L., and Gerla, P.J., 1992, Effects of Saline
Ground-Water Discharge on Water Quality in the
Red River of the North, Northeastern North Dakota:
Preliminary Observations of the Hydrologic Setting:
North Dakota Water Quality Symposium
Proceedings, 1992, Bismarck, N. D., p. 60-82.
Abstract
Water quality of the Red River of the North is important for several North
Dakota cities that depend on the river as a water resource and for United
States-Canadian management of the river. Surface water at low flow has a
large dissolved-solids concentration derived from widespread ground-water
discharge from bedrock units that subcrop beneath Pleistocene sediments in the
central part of the Red River of the North valley. Streamflow increases as
rivers cross saline soils and wetlands in the west-central part of the valley.
Dissolved-solids concentrations also increase in this area. Ground water
discharged from bedrock is a sodium-chloride-type water and mixes with
calcium-magnesium-sulfate-type water derived from recharge through tills near
the western margin of the valley. The tills are relatively permeable and
provide recharge to lacustrine sediments at lower elevations. Artesian
discharge in areas of clay-rich lacustrine sediments probably contributes
minor quantities of base flow directly to streams; most contributions to
surface water occur through zones of more permeable lacustrine sediments in
wetland areas.
Introduction
Water quality of the Red River of the North and its tributaries (fig.1) is
affected by natural and manmade sources of chemical constituents, including
saline soils in the Red River of the North drainage basin, municipal and
industrial waste, and agricultural chemicals. The water quality of the Red
River of the North is of concern because the river is an international stream
covered under the 1909 Boundary Waters Treaty between Canada and the United
States and is the sole source of water for many communities. Therefore,
understanding the processes that affect the water quality of the Red River of
the North is vital for evaluating present water conditions and guiding any
future water-quality management actions.
The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effects of upwards migration of
ground water from bedrock sources through surficial Pleistocene sediments on
water quality of the Red River of the north. This paper presents a
description of the variations in ground-water and surface-water chemistry and
hydrogeologic characteristics of the Pleistocene sediments.
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U.S. Geological Survey