The controversial outlet designed to lower the rising waters of Devils Lake in North Dakota is not working and should be abandoned, says a lawyer representing the Manitoba government and People to Save the Sheyenne River.
“In the three years that the outlet has been operating, it has only removed 1/37 of an inch of water off the lake,” said Bill Delmore, an attorney from Mandan, N.D., in an interview recorded by www.water.ca.
“A justice asked me two years ago, ‘What is that in terms of land?’ Even with the most liberal interpretation, it could be maybe one acre of water has been removed at the cost of $28 million.”
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The diversion concerns Manitoba because water drained into the Sheyenne River eventually ends up in the Red River, which flows north through the province to Lake Winnipeg.
Delmore said the presence of minnows in the sand filter showed that the outlet was not functioning properly, despite assurances given by the United States Army Corps of Engineers that no aquatic life would be allowed to escape.
“I don’t believe that North Dakota can justify the outlet. Its effect on flooding has been almost negligible. Meanwhile, it could affect the flora and fauna in the Sheyenne River and then have an adverse effect on Canadian resources.”
The latest development in the Devils Lake controversy is a lawsuit in the state’s Supreme Court that argues against a proposed modification of the Devils Lake outlet permit.
The state government wants to increase the amount of allowable sulfates released into the Sheyenne River, remove the existing standard governing suspended solids and increase the discharge time period. A decision is expected in December.
The original permit issued in 2003 stated the outlet could not be used if sulfate levels exceeded 300 milligrams per litre. The maximum level for human consumption is 250 in the state.
In 2006, North Dakota’s Water Commission asked that the level be raised to 450 mg per litre, and that the outlet be allowed to run until the Sheyenne River freezes over. It is allowed to operate from May 1 to Nov. 30. Drought in 2006 left the outlet shut the entire year.
Milton Sauer, chair of People to Save the Sheyenne River, a group made up of 50 farmers and ranchers along the waterway, said the lake’s high salinity and sulfate levels, which render the water undrinkable and harmful to fish, become even more elevated during summer, the only time when it is practical to use the outlet.
“It’s a Catch-22 situation,” he said. “Then in the spring, when the river’s already high, there’s no room for more water,” Sauer said.
Downstream water treatment plants would be unable to handle the higher pollutant levels, he said, noting that residents near the lake are trying to access a nearby aquifer instead of treating the water in Devils Lake.
“You can’t drink the water. There’s too much salinity. It’ll give you the trots, among other things,” said Sauer. “If they won’t use it, why should other people?”
Sauer said the revision of state environmental regulations would put the river at risk and do little to solve the real problem bedeviling the lake: 2,200 illegal drains upstream that have dried up wetlands and holding basins and caused the lake’s level to rise. Without an effective outlet, evaporation concentrates the salinity and sulfate problems and makes the lake uninhabitable for fish.
The Manitoba government has been calling on the United States for years to bring the matter before the International Joint Commission. The U.S. government argues that going to the cross-border dispute resolution body for a settlement would take too long.
In the 1990s, a series of wet years caused the lake’s waters to rise, flooding out 300 households and drowning 70,000 acres of farmland.
North Dakota has spent an estimated $400 million to cope with the rising waters.
