The Pembina River is a tributary of the

Red River of the North The Red River (french: rivière Rouge or ) is a river in the north-central United States and central Canada. Originating at the confluence of the Bois de Sioux and Otter Tail rivers between the U.S. states of Minnesota and North Dakota, it fl ...

, approximately long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data
The National Map
accessed June 8, 2011 in southern

Manitoba Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

and northeastern

North Dakota North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the indigenous Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north and by the U.S. states of Minnesota to the east, ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

. It drains an area (about 8500 square kilometers) of the

prairie Prairies are ecosystems considered part of the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome by ecologists, based on similar temperate climates, moderate rainfall, and a composition of grasses, herbs, and shrubs, rather than trees, as the ...

country along the Canada–US border, threading the Manitoba-North Dakota border eastward to the Red River. Via the Red River,

Lake Winnipeg Lake Winnipeg (french: Lac Winnipeg, oj, ᐑᓂᐸᑲᒥᐠᓴᑯ˙ᑯᐣ, italics=no, Weenipagamiksaguygun) is a very large, relatively shallow lake in North America, in the province of Manitoba, Canada. Its southern end is about north of ...

and the

Nelson River The Nelson River is a river of north-central North America, in the Canadian province of Manitoba. The river drains Lake Winnipeg and runs before it ends in Hudson Bay. Its full length (including the Saskatchewan River and Bow River) is , i ...

, it is part of the

watershed Watershed is a hydrological term, which has been adopted in other fields in a more or less figurative sense. It may refer to: Hydrology * Drainage divide, the line that separates neighbouring drainage basins * Drainage basin, called a "watershe ...

Hudson Bay Hudson Bay ( crj, text=ᐐᓂᐯᒄ, translit=Wînipekw; crl, text=ᐐᓂᐹᒄ, translit=Wînipâkw; iu, text=ᑲᖏᖅᓱᐊᓗᒃ ᐃᓗᐊ, translit=Kangiqsualuk ilua or iu, text=ᑕᓯᐅᔭᕐᔪᐊᖅ, translit=Tasiujarjuaq; french: b ...

. It rises in several streams on the eastern side of the Turtle Mountains on both sides of the international border. The streams converge near

Neelin, Manitoba Neelin is a small community in the Canadian province of Manitoba. It is located on Manitoba Provincial Highway 5 in the Rural Municipality of Argyle, about 29 km east of Killarney, or about 200 km southwest of Winnipeg. The Roseberry s ...

and flow initially northeast, then southeast along the west side of the Pembina Hills into

Cavalier County Cavalier County is a county in the U.S. state of North Dakota. It is south of the Canada–US border with Manitoba. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,704. Its county seat is Langdon. The city of Cavalier is in nearby Pembina Coun ...

in northeastern North Dakota. It flows east, just south of the border, past Walhalla and Neche. It joins the Red River from the west just south of Pembina, approximately south of the international border. It receives the Tongue River from the south approximately upstream from its mouth on the Red. The main tributaries of the Pembina River are Badger Creek and Long River. Some of the numerous minor tributaries include the Mary Jane, Pilot, Crystal, and Snowflake Creeks. The Pembina River ranges in depth from at mid-channel. The full width of the river is highly variable, ranging from to as much as in other areas. There are numerous wetlands and prairie potholes in this watershed. The elevation of the watershed ranges from above sea level in the southwestern corner of the watershed, down to adjacent to the Pembina River in the southeastern corner of the watershed. The watershed is level through the central and eastern regions, however the elevation rises roughly in the radius around the Turtle Mountain Provincial Park. Water flow rates in the Pembina River watershed are highly variable. Data from hydrometric stations are used to monitor river flow rates and lake levels, for flood forecasting, and water management investigations. Water levels typically peak during spring run-off and rapidly declines generally in a few days. Groundwater contribution to stream flow normally ensures the river runs throughout the year. The months of March, April and May account for 68 percent of the run-off in a given year. Annual spring run-off rates are highly variable. In Neche, ND the lowest annual volume recorded was 356-m (2870 acre-ft) in 1939. The highest recorded volume was 94,400 hectare-m (765,000 acre-ft) in 1997. Pembina Neche

Environment Canada has a water quality monitoring station is maintained at the south-east corner of the watershed, near the International Boundary. Information from this station is collected regularly and is used to analyze for numerous variables including pesticides, metals, nutrients, general chemistry, and bacteria. A study conducted in 2001 Jones, G., N. Armstrong. 2001. Long-term trends in total nitrogen and total phosphorus concentrations in Manitoba streams. Manitoba Conservation Report No. 2001-07. 154 pp. found that over a 25-year period (1974–99) phosphorus concentrations had increased by 52 percent in the Pembina river. This increase in phosphorus is likely a result of increased nutrient input from a combination of wastewater treatment, agricultural inputs, and atmospheric depositions. Elevated phosphorus concentrations promote excessive algal bloom growth, which have many undesirable outcomes for the watershed and the entire Lake Winnipeg basin.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pembina River (Manitoba - North Dakota) Rivers of Manitoba Rivers of North Dakota International rivers of North America Bodies of water of Cavalier County, North Dakota Bodies of water of Pembina County, North Dakota Tributaries of the Red River of the North

See also

References