TOUR OF SEMINARY FACILITY
 
THE RED RIVER
 Because
the Red River of the North flows
north from North Dakota into Canada, it floods in the spring. Since the ground
is still frozen when the spring
thaw comes, the snow melt runs off immediately into the Red and its tributaries.
This water often encounters a frozen river
further north in North Dakota and Canada. Because Cardinal Muench Seminary is
built along the Red River, it must contend with this event.The picture on the right shows the
flooding of 1969. This aerial picture is looking west. The Red River is in the
foreground. The recently built Cardinal Muench Seminary (down and to the right
of the photo's center) stands alone, as no other homes had yet been constructed
in the area. The water can be seen threatening the seminariy's "back door." Also
notice the water to the west (the top of the picture)
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As part of the effort to combat the record flooding of 1997, a 3 foot
earthen dike was built to protect the
seminary to a projected river level of 40 feet (center pictures above); because of it, the seminary and the north side of Fargo were spared.
On April 17, 1997, the river crested at 39.57 feet. (The highest recorded level
was 40.1 feet on April 7, 1897.)
The photo on the right was taken on April 21, 1997. It was taken from the
same angle of the 1969 photo, above. Notice how the neighborhood had since
been built up around the seminary. |
 There
was near recording
flooding again in 2006. At that time the dike was surveyed and found to have
settled slightly. It was determined that it would be able protect the
property up to a water level of 39.1 feet.The top picture
on the left shows the "high water" mark of 37.18 feet, reached on April 5,
2006 (the seminary dorm is visible on the far left). The river had flooded parts of the property normally a field, as seen in the
lower picture, taken 10 days later.
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