The Upper Sheyenne River is a 300-mile segment of the Sheyenne River in north-central North Dakota, flowing through nine counties that together make up the Upper Sheyenne River Joint Water Resource Board (Joint Board). In recent years the river has experienced significant bank erosion and channel migration, threatening local infrastructure in several locations. The Joint Board hired Barr to conduct an erosion and sedimentation risk assessment of the entire Upper Sheyenne River riparian corridor, from the headwaters to Baldhill Dam. The results of the risk assessment will be used to prioritize restoration activities along the river and to guide applications for project funding from federal and state grant programs.
Our work included background data collection and public meetings to identify key areas of concern, field surveys at 15 locations along the river to characterize typical channel dimensions and evaluate bank stability, and analysis and risk assessment. The risk assessment used the Rapid Resource Inventory for Sediment and Stability Consequences (RRISSC), a component of the Watershed Assessment of River Stability and Sediment Supply (WARSSS) methodology (Rosgen, 2009).
The risk assessment found that 18 of the 30 river reaches in the study area are at high risk for ongoing channel instability. Barr prepared concept stabilization recommendations for several of the study locations.