NEWS RELEASE
November 19, 2009

IJC releases progress report on Red River Flood mitigation

The International Joint Commission (IJC) is pleased to announce the release of How are we Living with the Red?, a report that assesses progress toward implementing each of the recommendations that the IJC made in its November 2000 report, Living with the Red.

In 2000, the IJC made 28 recommendations to governments and endorsed another 30 recommendations of its International Red River Basin Task Force without change. Since the 1997 flood, governments at all levels have made changes in flood-related policies, funded new programs and made changes to existing ones, invested in research into many aspects of flooding, and supported the establishment of new institutions such as the Red River Basin Commission. The focus for attention has been not only on major floods such as that of 1997, but also on smaller tributary floods.

The expenditures since 1997 relating to the IJC recommendations have exceeded one billion dollars. None of the IJC recommendations have been formally rejected, although a few may not be implemented.

The Red River basin is unquestionably more flood resilient than it was in 1997, but it will still take considerable effort to achieve the level of integration and cohesion on flood management that the IJC envisaged. Despite a high level of interagency and intergovernmental cooperation, adoption of binational measures will still be needed before the long-term resiliency of the basin can be assured.

The 2009 progress report, How are We Living with the Red?, commissioned by the IJC’s International Red River Board, is available from the IJC’s Ottawa and Washington offices, or online at: www.ijc.org/php/publications/pdf/ID1633.pdf

The International Joint Commission was established by the Boundary Waters Treaty of 1909 as an independent advisor to the governments of Canada and the United States. More information is available at: www.ijc.org

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