The Souris River reservoir system serves as an important water supply source while also providing flood protection for downstream communities. Oftentimes the most straightforward means of achieving one of these objectives hinders the achievement of the other. Adding environmental, cultural, and economic concerns of public and private stakeholders in this transboundary basin makes the operation of the reservoir system very complex, and the evaluation of alternative reservoir operations even more so. To assess the pros and cons of various operating alternatives in the International Joint Commission’s Souris River Plan of Study, the technical team developed a robust reservoir model along with a suite of performance indicators related to water supply, flood control, and agricultural, environmental, and cultural impacts. Using statistical analyses and data visualization techniques, along with a number of workshops and feedback sessions with public agencies and landowners, the team identified benefits and impacts of each alternative on a reach-by-reach basis. Sharing the techniques and challenges of not only analytically evaluating alternatives but also explaining how each alternative affects those living and working in the basin will help future studies analyze alternatives and achieve buy-in from stakeholders.
