Water Commission approves Devils Lake projects

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BISMARCK — The North Dakota Water Commission has approved a $16.5 million project aimed at controlling the level of swollen Devils Lake.

Assistant Water Commission Engineer Todd Sando said the project involves installing additional pumps along the Devils Lake outlet that could remove more than 6 inches of water annually from the lake. The upgrade would boost the outlet’s pumping capacity from 100 cubic feet of water per second to 250 cubic feet per second, he said.

“There will be more horsepower to push more water,” Sando said.

The 14-mile, $28 million outlet, which began operating in August 2005, pumps lake water into the Sheyenne River, a tributary of the Red River, which flows north into Manitoba’s Lake Winnipeg.

The outlet has raised opposition in southeastern North Dakota, Minnesota and the Canadian province of Manitoba because of fears it would transfer harmful organisms into other waterways while taking only inches off the lake. Officials in North Dakota say the fears are unfounded.

The Water Commission on Tuesday also agreed to help pay for work on a dike that protects the city of Devils Lake from its namesake.

Devils Lake Mayor Fred Bott says the $113 million project could be completed in 2012. He says the federal government will pay 75 percent of the cost.

The Water Commission will provide $2.9 million to the city for the first phase of the project.

Years of wet weather have caused the lake to triple in size since the early 1990s, flooding homes, roads and fields. Hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent to help residents battle the water. Devils Lake surpassed its modern-day record high of 1,449.2 feet on April 29. On Tuesday, it was measured at 1,450.29 feet, an increase of 28 feet since 1992.

Gov. John Hoeven said dedicating millions of dollars to long-term flood-control projects for Devils Lake is essential.

“This is about helping mitigate the flooding in the Devils Lake basin, and at the same time managing water quality downstream,” Hoeven said.

Bruce Engelhardt, an assistant Water Commission engineer, said the outlet is expected to pump only about 2 inches off the lake this year. The outlet expansion could be completed sometime next year, he said.

North Dakota’s Health Department recently changed a water-quality rule to allow saltier Devils Lake water to flow nonstop into the Sheyenne River.

Officials in Valley City, downstream of Devils Lake, have worried about the increased sulfate levels in that city’s water supply. The Water Commission on Tuesday also agreed to provide $9.2 million for that city’s new water treatment facility, which can lower sulfate levels through reverse osmosis. The state Health Department already has committed more than $2 for the $15.6 million project.

Valley City Mayor Mary Lee Nielson said the city’s new water-treatment project could be completed within two years, perhaps before more water is pumped from Devils Lake.

“Hopefully, ours is done before their project is,” she said.

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