Second in a two-part series on Devils Lake, Mainstreet Radio’s Dan Gunderson reports on the concerns and plans for the lake in northeast North Dakota, which has risen nearly 25 feet in the past six years. Officials say with time running out, they are prepared to take drastic action. North Dakota officials say building an outlet now will control the water….but outlet plans have been stopped by opposition from Minnesota, Canada, and environmental groups.
Nearly 300 million dollars has been spent to protect roads, utilities and the city of Devils Lake. The lake is now starting to overflow into neighboring Stump Lake. That lake is expected to grow by thousands of acres. Within five years Stump Lake could create its own outlet and send an uncontrolled flow of water downstream to cities like Fargo Moorhead and Grand Forks.
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DAN GUNDERSON: It's hard to imagine an impending catastrophe standing atop a hill in the rolling terrain of northeastern North Dakota, with Stump Lake just a glimmer in the distance. But this is the spot where sometime in the next 5 to 10 years, Stump Lake may overflow and head downstream toward Fargo. The lake needs to rise more than 40 feet before it spills over. Geologists say it's happened three or four times in the past 10,000 years but never in recorded history.
Crews are installing large pipes under a gravel road near Tolna, North Dakota. Sometime this summer, water from Devils Lake will begin to flow through these pipes into Stump Lake, joining the lakes for the first time in nearly two centuries.
KEITH FORDE: The way I look at it, the water will probably be within 200 yards of our farmstead next by this fall.
DAN GUNDERSON: Keith Forde's farm has been in the family since 1906. This will be the last summer before he's forced to give it up. By next year, his land will be underwater, part of the 7,000 acres expected to be flooded as Devils Lake overflows into Stump Lake. Keith Forde has flood insurance on his home but will not be compensated for losing the farmland that's been his livelihood.
KEITH FORDE: I'm trying to look for a bright spot in the future. But there's not much hope. I guess we're taking one day at a time. Right now, it's graduation. So we're taking-- I guess that's the first thing on our list to get that over with. And then we'll take it from there.
DAN GUNDERSON: Keith hopes to move his home. But he's stymied by a bureaucratic catch-22. The federal government won't pay his flood insurance compensation until water reaches the house. But by then, all the roads will be underwater. And it will be impossible to move the house.
KEITH FORDE: We'll be burning our buildings on our farm and trying to get out what we can.
DAN GUNDERSON: Does that make sense to you?
KEITH FORDE: It doesn't make sense. It doesn't make sense to anyone.
DAN GUNDERSON: Keith Forde's frustration echoes across this sparsely populated area. Had an outlet been built for Devils Lake when it was first proposed in 1993, he would likely not be losing his home and livelihood. But since 1993, 28 outlet plans have been discussed and rejected.
DARLENE QUAM: I quit going to meetings because they say the same thing time and again. And nobody wants to see the simple solution.
DAN GUNDERSON: Not far away, Darlene Quam's farm is high enough to escape the water. But when all the roads are submerged, the farm may have to be abandoned. On this warm spring day, Darlene Quam is putting in her garden. She says if she has to leave this picturesque setting, it will be because government has failed.
DARLENE QUAM: Well, you see, the state's solution is to buy us out. And I just resent that because I don't want to be bought out. we don't want to be bought out. This is our home farm. This is where our new house is and our nice little farmstead and our-- I mean, this is where we lived for hundreds years. The sensible thing is to get an outlet, to get water out of here so that we don't have to deal with all these things. It's a common sense issue, as far as I'm concerned.
DAN GUNDERSON: It may well be too late for an outlet to help protect the Quams and others around Devils Lake and Stump Lake. More water is flowing into Devils Lake than can be released. So even if an outlet were built today, the lake would continue to rise.
Many officials are beginning to turn their attention to protecting downstream communities by building a controlled outlet before the lake begins naturally spilling into the Cheyenne River. The Cheyenne flows south toward the South Dakota border, then makes a sweeping curve and heads north, finally flowing into the Red River near Fargo.
North Dakota State Senator Vern Thompson has watched Devils Lake move 8 miles in the past six years. It now threatens his hometown of Minnewaukan. He says after six years of trying to push action on an outlet, he's convinced the lake will flow out naturally before conflict over the water can be resolved.
VERN THOMPSON: We'll continue to have so much water coming in that we won't be able to manage it. We'll lose the battle before we get started. The challenge that we have as elected officials is, are we going to manage the water, or are we just going to let it manage us? And in all honesty, I think if we let it manage us like we have today, once it does flow into the Cheyenne, all hell is going to break loose.
DAN GUNDERSON: Minnesota officials oppose a Devils Lake outlet. They say, because the lake has a high salt content, it will hurt water quality in the Red River. Based on the same concern, Canadian officials have pledged to prevent a single drop of Devils Lake water from flowing into Canada. That strong opposition is causing growing resentment around Devils Lake. Devils Lake businessman Rick LaFleur calls it a humanitarian issue.
RICK LAFLEUR: It's like a car accident. If you don't know the people that were in it, it simply is not news to you, or it doesn't find a spot in your heart. But if you know them, then it really does. So my suggestion is this. For those that have such a hard position, come over here and get to know us because we want you to know us when we're going down. And if you won't do that, then that's being a coward.
DAN GUNDERSON: The disagreement over what to do with Devils Lake water may be headed for the courts. North Dakota Governor Ed Schafer says if the federal government won't take action soon, he's ready to forget diplomacy and build an outlet.
ED SCHAFER: We'll end up in court, throw it on the table, get it through the court system, get sued, whatever we have to do. But let's get this thing complete figured out. There's a way that we can do this, I'm convinced. And we just need to muster the courage and the energy to get it done.
DAN GUNDERSON: Schafer says he believes there is no more time for study and debate. Moorhead Mayor Morris Lanning agrees the situation is growing more urgent every day. He says having Devils Lake spill out naturally at a time when the Red River is flooding would be devastating. But Lanning wants consensus, not court battles.
MORRIS LANNING: The worst thing that Minnesota or Manitoba could do is to say, we don't want this. We don't want to talk about it. We're going to fight you all the way. If that were to happen, then I'm afraid we'll set water management back decades in this basin. And that's going to be bad news for everybody.
The Army Corps of Engineers is expected to present a Devils Lake action plan this week. If the plan does not call for work to begin immediately on an outlet, it's likely the state of North Dakota will begin moving dirt on its own, and a legal war will ensue. Dan Gunderson, Minnesota Public Radio.