DEVILS LAKE, N.D. (AP) -- The city of Devils Lake has dropped its appeal of a state effort to use eminent domain to take city-owned land to build a flood control structure on the Tolna Coulee.
The Grand Forks Herald reports that the City Commission voted unanimously to reverse its decision to fight the state in court.
The coulee is a natural outlet to the Sheyenne River for Devils Lake floodwaters should the lake continue its years-long rise. The state and Army Corps of Engineers say a water control structure is needed to prevent a catastrophic overflow, but city officials believe a structure would act like a dam and worsen flooding in the lake basin.
Mayor Dick Johnson says it's time for the two sides to work together.
