|
Thursday, 10 April 2008 |
Letter from Ardon Herman
Minnewaukan, ND
To Sen. Byron Dorgan and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers:
Following are factors for your consideration on Devils Lake options.
Armoring the Stump Lake outlet is unacceptable. This would result in a “taking” of prime agricultural land as compared to a natural event, wherein the “sand plug” on the Tolna coulee would be eroded, allowing the lake to stabilize near current levels. The well developed shoreline indicates long-term historical precedence at current levels.
The boundary waters treaty should be declared obsolete, as it relates to Devils Lake, as it did not recognize the natural outlet, the high salinity levels, or a natural and inevitable overflow.
Therefore, to mitigate the natural overflow of Devils Lake, the sand plug should be removed and a control structure installed. This could minimize the flooding of 120,000 acres of farmland and destruction of highways, railroads, cities, levies, etc. Instead, the control structure would prevent catastrophic drainage downstream with controlled release of water to minimize (but not eliminate) adverse effects due to water quantity and quality. For example, relatively small releases from the east will allow freshening at the west end for increased pumping there. A modification could utilize a canal along the west shore of Stump Lake to its inlet to obtain better quality water out of east Devils Lake.
In summary, the operation of the two outlets would allow flexibility for long-term improvement in water quality for increased use of both outlets over time. This would be a fraction of the cost of the other options, any of which may never need to be used if the wet cycle ends.
Also, Devils Lake could be used as a reservoir for water supply downstream.
|
|
Last Updated ( Friday, 23 May 2008 )
|
