Final Environmental Impact Statement and Integrated Planning Report. April 2003 is issued by Corps of Engineers. http://www.health.state.nd.us/Rulemaking/DevilsLakeOutletDischargePermit/DevilsLakeEIS/ April 2003.

-regarding the literature search for information that would indicate the existence of organisms in Devils Lake waters that would affect the Sheyenne/Red River/Hudson Bay waters.

• Click on 37SOW.Biotadoc: about Biota Risk Assessment. This report is available from the Corps offices

• Executive Summary, page vi; "...Data Gaps: Perhaps the most important finding of this study was the revelation of just how poorly the biota of the Devils Lake basin and (to a somewhat lesser extent) the Red River basin are known. ...The deficiencies in the available data could be summarized as problems of poor comparability of studies from each basin, and gaps in coverage."...

• Page vii, "...Coverage gaps found in the existing data included: (1) very poor coverage of the wide range of aquatic habitats found in each basin, (2) poor coverage of temporal changes that occur seasonally in aquatic communities, and (3) inconsistent coverage of biota groups. this last type of data gap was particularly obvious in the complete lack of data on Devils Lake basin fish pathogens, the poor coverage of fish parasites, the lack of vascular plant studies, and the near lack of studies on non-planktonic invertebrates in all waters of the basins in question, except Lake Ashtabula and Lake Winnipeg."...

-reproduced in part here. For the full text, please contact Fish & Wildlife Service, Ecological Services, Bismarck, ND 58501 to obtain a copy.

"This information should receive the widest possible distribution to the public in efforts to dispel the commonly held notion that a 1459 msl outflow from the Devils Lake basin will produce a ‘wall of water’ .”...

• Read information (below) that pertains to the water quantity(flooding, erosion) impacts to the Sheyenne River of a proposed Devils Lake outlet.. Text written below that is enclosed in quotation marks are quotes from the report.

According to a US Fish & Wildlife Planning Aid Letter (PAL), May 24, 1999, Ecological Services, Bismarck, ND, water quantity discussion states:

...“When reviewing the flow projections provided for the 6-year and SPF outflows, it is interesting to note that in spite of significant inflow to the lake, the flow projection shows that evaporation from the lake’s surface area will have a dramatic effect in limiting the amount and peak of water that would outflow from the basin. This information should receive the widest possible distribution to the public in efforts to dispel the commonly held notion that a 1459 msl outflow from the Devils Lake basin will produce a ‘wall of water’ .”...

According to the US Fish & Wildlife PAL report, the...
“inflows into Devils Lake are determined by precipitation and manipulation of runoff from drainage systems. Decades of aggressive wetland drainage have increased the efficiency of runoff from precipitation events by enlarging the contributing watershed of Devils Lake through a coordinated network of tens of thousands of ditches and channels. This drainage network, coupled with 6 years of higher than average precipitation account for the rise of Devils Lake.”

Further comments include...
“it is necessary for the Corps of Engineers to study and quantify that portion of Devils Lake water resulting from manipulation of the basin through watershed drainage. Of critical importance is the determination of the level of Devils Lake water resulting from agricultural drainage.”...

Natural or Manmade Disaster?

The opinion by the Fish and Wildlife Service in the PAL report indicate that hydrology of the lake’s watershed be evaluated for “natural” and “manmade” consequences to the lake. This is supported in the PAL US Fish & Wildlife report, which calls for state and county drain boards to:...
“address the issue of upper basin management as a way to reduce inflow to the lake. This is a legitimate alternative that does not simply pass the problem downstream to other areas. “...

And:...
“Recommendations:...The Corps should recommend in their report to Congress, that the State exercise its authority to prevent or minimize artificial inflow from the watershed which contributes to the flooding problems associated with Devils Lake. Also, the State should exercise its authority to manage basin runoff. ...The Corps and State should coordinate a moratorium on all new drainage or projects that result in increasing inflow to Devils Lake for the life of the project.”...

This report states, in part:

"It is not the intent of the Commission to provide a mechanism whereby presently noncontributing areas will be ditched and drained. Nor is it the intent of the Commission that nonagricultural land will be converted to agricultural land because of Channel 'A.' Rather, Channel 'A' is to improve the drainage of existing farmland so that it can be consistently and uniformly more productive. It is the determination of the Commission that additional drainage of presently noncontributing areas will significantly contribute to increased lake levels in the Devils Lake chain, thereby increasing the flood hazard potential to the City of Devils Lake and to thousands of acres of littoral land." (Emphasis added)

People To Save The Sheyenne therefore feel that:

The North Dakota State Water Commission formally conceded in 1976 that additional drainage of then noncontributing areas would significantly contribute to increased lake levels in Devils Lake, thereby increasing the flood hazard potential to the City of Devils Lake and to thousands of acres of littoral land.

Thousands of additional acres have been drained (SWC Township Drains Map) and channeled into the current drainage system since 1976. Thousands of draining systems are connected from several watersheds to flow into the lower Devils Lake area. It obviously makes no difference whether the drainage occurred before 1976 or after 1976, or whether it occurred in the Starkweather and Edmore watersheds drained by Channel "A" or in other watersheds draining into Devils Lake, the fact remains that the State Water Commission formally admitted in 1976 that additional wetland drainage in the Devils Lake Basin would contribute significantly to the level of Devils Lake and would increase the flooding potential to the City of Devils Lake and other lands around the lake. This water, along with elevated precipitation levels, have added to the high water problems of the Devils Lake area-the lowest level of the watershed.

Federal guidance may be (should be) more objective in cases such as this where state and county interests are self-serving, and not far-sighted enough. The waters are too different from Devils Lake to the Sheyenne River, and the quantities too vast to put the lake into the river without major disruption to downstream systems.

Outlet proposals should include full compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act. It should preclude any drainage waters being mixed with Sheyenne River waters by a Corps project or a State of North Dakota project so that water quality and quantity impacts will be studied. With information then at hand, determination can be made at that time as to the environmentally acceptable and economically sound path to take.

Home / Top of Page

Missouri River Issues
Letter to the Council of Environmental Quality Regarding Devils Lake, North Dakota
http://www.dnr.state.mo.us/riverissues/river_letter_4states.htm

RESOLUTION OF THE UPPER MISSISSIPPI RIVER BASIN ASSOCIATION
MAY 13, 1998
ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA

..."NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Upper Mississippi River Basin Association reaffirms the concerns it expressed in its September 24, 1997 resolution and further requests that both the Upper Mississippi River Basin Association and its individual member states be notified of all NEPA-related public meetings and agency scoping meetings associated with the Devils Lake project.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the staff of the Upper Mississippi River Basin Association (UMRBA) is directed to:

a) Prepare and transmit letters to the Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality, the Acting Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works, and the Commanders of the Mississippi Valley Division and St. Paul District of the Corps of Engineers conveying the concerns and requests embodied in this resolution, and

b) Monitor the NEPA process associated with the Devils Lake project and inform UMRBA member states of all opportunities to participate in that process."...

SUBMIT COMMENTS TO THE SCOPING PROCESS

Top of Page / Home

12/19/2008 09:41 PM -0600