Risk and Consequence Analysis Focused on Biological Invasions Potentially Associated with Surface Water Transfers from the Missouri River to the Red River Basins

Under the auspices of the Dakota Water Resources Act (DWRA) of 2000, the Secretary of the Interior was 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. The technical findings of that project are summarized through a series of presentations at the Environmental and Water Resources Institute 2007 Congress in Tampa, Florida. The first paper in the series provides a brief overview of the project and the historic context for this evaluation relative to potential biota transfers, and a second presentation summarizes the technical tools applied to the analysis of risks and economic consequences. The final presentation in the series characterizes the risks and consequences potentially associated with biota transfers directly resulting from interbasin water transfers and competing pathways.