North Dakota Starts Draining Lake into Canada

[nosmokes]

North Dakota Starts Draining Lake into Canada

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WINNIPEG, Manitoba - Despite Canadian fears of contamination, North Dakota began pumping water on Monday from its Devils Lake floodlands into a system that leads eventually into a commercial fishery north of the US border.

The US diversion plan has been a diplomatic sore point because of Canadian concerns the water could pollute Manitoba's Lake Winnipeg, the world's 10th largest freshwater lake and home to a C$25 million ($21 million) fishery.

North Dakota says the water from Devils Lake, which has swallowed up 90,000 acres of land over 12 years of higher than normal precipitation, is safe. But Canada fears the land-locked lake contains high concentrations of salts and other pollutants along with foreign fish and organisms.

The system diverts water through a canal into the Sheyenne River, which drains into the Red River, which empties into Lake Winnipeg.

Canada and the United States reached an agreement earlier this month on several modifications to prevent harm to the Canadian lake. But some critics in Canada were not appeased.

"We did our little modifications on a few things, so we're back in the operations mode," said Dale Frink, North Dakota's state water engineer.

"We'll run (the outlet) on and off until Nov. 1," Frink told Reuters.

The Manitoba and Canadian governments had pushed for a review of the Devils Lake project by the International Joint Commission, an independent binational agency set up to resolve cross-border water disputes.

But North Dakota said the review would take too long, and governments had already spent more than $400 million moving homes and building and repairing roads and bridges because of the flooding.

The Bush administration declined to refer the project to the commission, and pushed for the agreement that saw North Dakota add more rocks and gravel to its drain to keep fish and other organisms from leaving Devils Lake.

Scientists from both countries are studying water quality, and US and Canadian governments will design and construct a more advanced filter system based on the studies.

So far, biologists have not found any invasive species such as zebra mussels in the lake, but they are still waiting on results on fish viruses and parasites, as well as other organisms, said Dwight Williamson, manager of water quality at Manitoba's water stewardship department.

"Clearly, our preference would have been for all of these results to be in prior to operation," Williamson said.
~snip~

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Story by Roberta Rampton

Story Date: 16/8/2005

All Contents
© Reuters News Service 2005

a bit more at
http://www.planetark.com/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/32049/story.htm

[swag]

1. Is this a great country or what?

[CHIMO]

2. Yep

Real great.

EDITORIAL: Devils Lake deal defeat for Canada

Some time this week, possibly as early as today, the state of North Dakota will thumb its nose at Canada and start pumping water out of Devils Lake, and send it into the Sheyenne River and then into the Red River, which passes through Winnipeg and eventually empties into Lake Winnipeg.

The move comes after a controversial, non-binding deal was reached last weekend allowing water to be pumped from Devils Lake in exchange for North Dakota quickly erecting a cheap rock filter to help prevent alien fish and plant species, as well as pollutants, from entering Canada.

In reality, though, the deal is a diplomatic disaster for Canada and allows North Dakota to just bully ahead with the diversion project.

Both of these are unlikely to occur, though, because the state feels it can do whatever it wants and nobody, including the Bush administration, is prepared to oppose it. With an attitude like that, it is no wonder that some Americans are viewed in Canada as bull-headed, uncooperative — and insensitive to our legitimate cross-border environmental concerns.

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1123883411847&call_pageid=968256290204&col=968350116795

The IJC is just another Bolten type US agreement.

[getmeouttahere]

3. As if we need another example of American arrogance...

and lack of cooperation. And I wonder if Ed Schultz has ever addressed this. Seems to me if you live in a flooded area, you have to move out of the area, and if that means ENTIRELY out of the area, so be it.

[VegasWolf]

4. Hey Assholes Running Government!! Pipe it down here, we could use it!!

[CHIMO]

5. Well Actually

They have plans to pipe water from the Atlantic Drainage Region(Missouri tributary) to the Artic Drainage Region(Devils Lake area). Required for development.

[VegasWolf]

6. Be nice if a little goes to the western states! nt

[CHIMO]

7. Agree

But they are going to be taking it from that area, if their plan goes through and moving it to the North. The Atlantic drainage area includes most of the western states south of Canada and East of the rockies.

I would of thought that they would pipe the Devils Lake water into the Southern area, which is the Atlantic drainage area.

Guess that, that would be too logical though.

[VegasWolf]

8. Yes, towns that were submerged because of the Hover Dam are

starting to pop out of Lake Mead. The lake is down som 60 feet
last I heard.

[ConcernedCanuk]

9. highest water levels in Lake Winnipeg in more than 30 years

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and they are adding MORE??

From a previous Article:

High Lake Winnipeg levels causing septic tanks to pop out of ground

Posted on Tue, Aug. 02, 2005

WINNIPEG - The highest water levels in Lake Winnipeg in more than 30 years have cottage owners wringing their hands.

Dave Crabb of the Manitoba Association of Cottage Owners says levels are so high that septic tanks have been popping out of the ground.

/snip/

Crabb, meanwhile, says the clay soil has been so saturated it has expanded to the point of cracking open many underground water pipes.

Reeve Kevin Chudd of the RM of Gimli, Man., says the causeway to Willow Island has been submerged several times in recent weeks, leaving only trucks able to get out to cottages there.
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I guess this is just another gesture of the Murikkan guvment "winning hearts and minds" ?

must be in that manual fer Eyeraq they's using . . .

[wellstone dem]

10. My daughter just got back from a 28 day canoe trip

to the waterways east of lake Winnipeg. The water was so high that they had to reroute the trip, and they could not use designated portages.