Welcome to RiverWatchOnline!

Prairie Public Broadcasting's RiverWatch began as an idea from community meetings after the catastrophic flood of 1997 damaged or destroyed thousands of homes, leaving thousands homeless throughout the Red River Valley of the North.

One year later, the International Flood Mitigation Initiative Commission determined that public education and information about flooding and the Red River were primary needs. The group chose Prairie Public Broadcasting, with its technical capacity to gather and distribute information across the region and its ability to establish cross-border and cross-media relationships, to accomplish that initiative.

Riverwatchonline.org brings the Red River to the Web, providing the latest news relating to flood issues on the Red River of the North, from Wahpeton, North Dakota to Lake Winnipeg, Manitoba. This site also provides:

- direct links to the weather forecasts and weather warnings from the National Weather Service and Environment Canada.

- information from professionals who can provide financial assistance, housing and rebuilding, clean-up, case management, counseling, healthcare and legal services.

- An interactive print news archive to help you better understand the past events that impact communities along the Red River in the Dakotas, Minnesota and Manitoba.

- Information on Greenway on the Red projects being developed throughout the Red River Basin and how such planning will provide benefits to the residents of the valley.

- A history of ancient Lake Agassiz and how this vast body of water helped develop the topography and soil structure that created the fertile valley that we live in today.

- A history of how the Red River Valley was discovered, explored and developed over the past 392 years.

From 2001 through June 30, 2006, the project also consisted of television and radio components on Prairie Public Television and North Dakota Public Radio. RiverWatchonline is made possible through a grant from the Otto Bremer Foundation and the Bremer Banks.