Red River Basin Commission to focus on water quality

Officials from Minnesota, North Dakota and Manitoba are meeting in Grand Forks this week to talk about water quality.

The Red River Basin Commission has been active for more than 30 years, primarily focused on flood control.

Commission Executive Director Jeff Lewis said the timing is right for a greater focus on water quality.

"There's a lot of people who are starting to understand that there are some significant problems with water quality," Lewis said. "And I think there's a lot of interest in people trying to roll up their sleeves and get down to work on what it is we can do to to try to work together to make improvements."

Lewis said wetland projects designed to store floodwater can also catch nutrients that run off farm fields. He said the organization is currently studying 24 such projects in the Red River Valley.

And this year, the group plans to add the region's top agriculture department officials to its board of directors. A large share of the excess nutrients affecting water quality in the Red River and Lake Winnipeg comes from farm fields.

"If we're going to make success in the Red River basin, we have to have a significant involvement from the agriculture sector," Lewis said.