Using Geoindicators to Prioritize Regional Wetland Locations for Flood Attenuation in Manitoba's Red River Basin

This study builds upon the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) framework developed for the USA portion of the Red River basin to prioritize potential wetland locations for flood mitigation. The framework was modified to use Canadian data applied on a regional scale, and to address an acknowledged gap in information by including a “Storage Potential” geoindicator based upon soil moisture extracted from RADAR data. This framework was chosen because it reflects all geoindicators found in literature, includes both economic and hydrological indicators, it is mathematically robust, and allows for the potential future comparison between the Canadian and USA portions of the Red River basin. The inclusion of the storage potential indicator reduced the amount of land area identified as suitable for wetland conversion compared to results without the added indicator. However, the cost of land and proximity to streams were the most important indicators in site selection with runoff and storage potential discriminating sites within the low valued lands close to streams. South of Emerson, 0.8% of the land area is needed to reduce the impact of a 100-year flood; this resulted in a small area needed for flood mitigation, thus allowing for flexibility in site suitability which will appeal to land owners, flood managers and Regional Municipality administration. The results showed that this framework can be used in southern Manitoba and can be applied on a regional scale. The next step is to use this framework and data throughout the entire Manitoba Red River basin to mitigate floods on a synoptic scale for comparison with the USA portion of the basin.