The reeve for Rhineland Municipality would like to see less litigation and more action on finding ways to mitigate flooding on the Pembina River.

In December, the Supreme Court of Canada dismissed an application by a North Dakota group connected to the Border Road in Rhineland. Several farmers and municipalities in North Dakota were seeking compensation for damage to crops, land and infrastructure they allege was due to the road which acts like a dike and blocks the natural flow of flood water and forcing it to remain on the North Dakota side for a longer period of time.

Don Wiebe said he's hopeful the Supreme Court decision to dismiss the case will put an end to the court battles so that the two sides can start working together. 

"We were hoping that we could now begin a more consultative approach in finding a solution to the river," Wiebe said.

For starters, Wiebe said he'd like to see the Pembina River Basin Committee reestablished to spearhead that work. The committee was deactivated while the issue over the Border Road played out in the courts.

According to the reeve, a number of people on the American side have already asked the International Joint Commission to examine the Pembina River situation and come up with some possible options for controlling flood waters.

"We'll see where that goes and if the Commission accepts that. They have studied the situation twice before and came up with a couple of recommendations but none of those options were ever acted on. So, there's a bit of legacy in terms of looking at this problem but if they picked it up I'm optimistic a creative solution would come forward."

The IJC came up with several options in a report completed in 1967 which involved the construction of dams and reservoirs in both the U.S. and Canada that could be used for flood control and irrigation.

Those options were never acted on by either the U.S. or Canada due to a poor cost/benefit ratio.