A North Dakota Supreme Court ruling last week overturned changes made in 2006 by the state that had weakened environmental standards in the operating permit for the Devils Lake outlet.
The decision was applauded by Manitoba water stewardship minister Christine Melnick, who said tighter restrictions on the Devils Lake outlet will provide more protection for the province’s water. The outlet connects Devils Lake to the river and lake system in Manitoba.
Manitoba launched the court action along with People to Save the Sheyenne River, the Peterson Coulee Outlet Association and the National Wildlife Federation.
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The U.S. court ruled that changes made to the discharge standard for total suspended solids and to the operating period, which allowed pumping to begin before May and to continue after November, were “arbitrary, capricious and unreasonable” and “not the product of a rational mental process.”
The court sent the permit back to the North Dakota Department of Health and ruled the changes were unlawful and had to be reversed.
In an attempt to allow the outlet to be operated more frequently, North Dakota had relaxed a number of environmental requirements related to sulfate, total suspended solids and pumping restrictions.
Total suspended solids include silt and sediment particles scoured from the outlet channel as well as other materials such as algae from Devils Lake. Four types of harmful, blue-green algae have been found in Devils Lake that are not known to occur in Lake Winnipeg.
The outlet was operated for parts of 11 days in 2005 and 38 days in 2007, and lowered water levels in Devils Lake by 0.027 of an inch.
In August 2005, the governments agreed to put in place an advanced treatment system on the outlet. Despite this agreement, the treatment system is not yet in place, which prompted Manitoba and its allies in the United States to launch the court action.
