Barnes County Commissioner Rodger Berntson, left, and Valley City Mayor Mary Lee Nielson talk about Devils Lake-Sheyenne River issues on Monday. (Steve Browne / Times-Record)

By Steve Browne
Staff writer

Valley City and Barnes County officials met Monday evening to discuss presenting a united front to the North Dakota State Water Commission concerning the Tolna Coulee and pumping water into the Sheyenne River.
“We wanted to have this meeting to let people know that the Valley City (City) Commission and the Barnes County Commission are in agreement that we don’t want water from the east end,” Valley City Mayor Mary Lee Nielson said. “And we’d like to see some kind of structure put on the Tolna Coulee, just in case.”
The Tolna Coulee is a natural outlet from Stump Lake into the Sheyenne River. Due to rising lake water, Stump Lake is connected to Devils Lake through the Jerusalem Coulee.
Though the Tolna Coulee has not had flowing water in it for at least 1,000 years, water level increases have brought the water within 8 feet of the coulee rim. The state and the city of Devils Lake reacted by building increased pumping facilities at the west end of the lake, which lets water flow into the Sheyenne.
Water from the east end has a higher concentration of sulfates than the west end, raising concerns about the quality of water entering the Sheyenne River.
Nielson suggested the commissions co-sign a letter to the State Water Commission requesting a comprehensive hydrological study of the Devils Lake basin and a plan that might include building a control structure on the Tolna Coulee. Nielson said most of the work of such a study may already be done, and the State Water Commission would simply need to review existing studies.

For the full story, see the Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2009, print edition of the Valley City Times-Record.