Home / State Building an outlet may be a misnomer. / Big water's power play in N.D.

State Water Commission moving ahead with Devils Lake outlet
By BLAKE NICHOLSON Associated Press Writer The Associated Press
BISMARCK, N.D. March 5, 2003

Members of the state Water Commission, doubtful that a federal outlet to ease Devils Lake flooding will ever be built, have voted to move forward with a state project.

"They've absolutely done nothing in terms of the outlet other than lip service," Gov. John Hoeven said, referring to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

However, the Water Commission stopped short of telling the corps to abandon its efforts.

"We're not quite in a position to forgo a federal outlet totally," said Dale Frink, the state engineer.

Work on the $25 million state project began last year with dirt and road work and land acquisition. The commission on Wednesday approved $7.5 million for channel construction this year and work on a power supply for pumping stations.

The Corps of Engineers committed late last month to build a federal outlet but said more environmental work might double the cost. Congress would have to approve funding.

With inflation, the federal project could surpass $200 million, of which North Dakota would be responsible for $73 million, assistant state engineer Todd Sando said.

Hoeven, the Water Commission chairman, said he does not believe the federal outlet will ever be built.

"This is the latest in a string of delays and cost increases," he said. "At what point do we say, 'OK, we believe you?'"

Commission member Curt Hofstad said that if the federal outlet is built, the state cannot afford $73 million besides the $25 million cost of the state project. He suggested abandoning the corps project, but the commission did not go along with him.

Sando said the state will not have to commit to participating in a federal outlet until this fall, when the corps decision to move forward with the project becomes official.

Ramsey County Commissioner Joe Belford told the Water Commission that the corps also needs to be kept involved because more dike and road work likely will be necessary in the flooded Devils Lake region. Belford said a public hearing is scheduled Friday in Devils Lake to discuss the federal outlet.

Hoeven said North Dakota must continue to push the corps.

"We should challenge them to see how much progress they actually get done on their outlet," he said.

Devils Lake has risen more than two dozen feet in the past decade and almost tripled in size, flooding thousands of acres of farmland and causing millions of dollars' worth of damage.

Both the state and federal outlets would drain water into the Sheyenne River, which empties into the Red River. The Red forms much of the border between North Dakota and Minnesota, and flows north into Canada.

Minnesota and Canadian officials have opposed an outlet, fearing it could hurt water quality and introduce harmful aquatic species into their waters. Some residents downstream on the Sheyenne have threatened a lawsuit to block construction of an outlet, saying it could harm the river and worsen flooding.

Water Commission member Elmer Hillesland asked whether the environmental factors that are increasing the estimated cost of the federal outlet might also hamper the state's outlet plans.

"How are we going to get by ignoring those issues?" he said.

Sando said the state project would feature slower water flows, easing environmental worries downstream. Hoeven said the corps is "adding a number of features that may or may not be necessary."

One of the features included in the corps plan is a sand filter to remove dissolved solids and biological material from the Devils Lake water before it is released into the Sheyenne.

Frink said the chances of a lawsuit against the state are good. He and Sando also acknowledged that officials could have problems getting a water discharge permit needed to drain water into the Sheyenne.

"Without question, there are some risks," Frink said.

Commission member Harley Swenson wondered whether the group should be authorizing funding for construction work before a permit is obtained.

"We may be building another Garrison Diversion here?" he asked, referring to a separate, unfinished project to move Missouri River water through a channel to eastern North Dakota.