Red River Riparian Project
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Grand Forks Country Club
This site was constructed winter 2000-2001 and planted Spring 2001. It is located just south of Grand Forks Elm
Coulee, a small coulee that drains into the Red River.
Glacial lacustrine deposits in the Red River Basin of North Dakota, Minnesota, and Southern Manitoba present significant
challenges to river and stream bank stabilization efforts. The Brenna and Sherack Formations are highly plastic laminated
clays subject to slope failure and slumping. Changes in local hydrology, decline of forest and grassland, urban development,
and recent weather cycles contribute to increased frequency of slope failure along the Red River and its tributaries. For these
reason, the RRBRP selected a site on Cole Creek in Grand Forks County, North Dakota, as a demonstration site.
A nearly 2-acre slump along a 330-ft reach had damaged the Grand Forks Country Club's cart bridge and was beginning to narrow
the stream channel and lift the channel bottom. These changes in channel morphology were causing downstream bank and channel scouring.
An attempt was made to stabilize the failure during the replacement of the cart bridge in 2002 by re-grading the slope, installing
rock and root wads to protect the slope toe, and planting the slope to native vegetation. Subsequent summer flooding that inundated
the site five times in an 18-month period, continued irrigation of golf course areas, insufficient grading, and improper installation
of root wads led to continued failure.
A second attempt was made in 2003 to stabilize the slope failure by grading the slope to at least 10:1, adding a more substantial
rock toe and using bioengineering to alter the slope drainage and deflect flow energy in the channel. The slope and channel were
determined stable in spring 2004 and will continue to be monitored by the RRBRP.
The following series of photographs depict the restoration of the Grand Forks Country Club Site. Click on an image for a
larger version.
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