Draining Devils Lake raises concerns downstream

Valley City, ND (WDAY TV) - North Dakota's water commission today approved giving a 15 million dollar upgrade to the Devils Lake outlet that drains floodwaters into the Sheyenne River. It'll move up to 6 inches of water off the flooded lake under ideal conditions. While it's good news for Devils Lake, some people downstream in Valley City are worried about more water coming their way.

“None of us can afford another year like this one if we expect to survive in business.”

Leon Pytlik is one of the many Valley City business owners along Main Street, while the street shut down for nearly eight months because of flooding, his sporting goods store took a major hit.

“Eliminates my busiest time of the year, my busiest time of the year is up to the start of deer season.”

Now, with the possibility of more water coming his way from Devils Lake, Pytlik's worried about the same thing happening all over again. He's also concerned for local wildlife. If water from the outlet flows to the Sheyenne, it'll speed the river up to 250 cubic feet per second.

“The ducks, they don't want to sit in running water, they want to sit in slow water.”

Another concern is water contamination, and the threat it could pose to people in Valley City, Barnes County, and the entire eastern third of North Dakota.

“Nothing has been done, that's our biggest problem, nothing’s been done.”

Burh wants the water to be studied, to see what's in it, and if it's a danger to the public. With help from others in this group, more than 700 signatures have been collected, petitioning for a study.

“So that there would be proper methods to handle the water, to take care of it, and so that our taxpayer dollars are used in a fair and just measure.”

It's going to cost more than 15 million dollars for upgrades to the outlet. This group says instead of throwing money away, state leaders need to think things through, before making a decision they say could be harmful to everyone in along the Sheyenne.

The group will present its petition to the Red River Basin Commission, during its long term solutions meeting tonight. It's at Valley City High School from 6:30 to 8:30.

Valley City's water treatment plant Manager says more water from Devils Lake is a good thing. He says it'll actually mean cleaner drinking water.

Improvements are being made to the treatment plant now; they should be done in 2-years. Right now, the plant isn't able to treat water that would come from Devils Lake. But the new and improved filtering system will continue to provide high quality water to Valley City.

“Instead of water running through a regular filter, that's what we do now; it just runs through by gravity, that's not the case anymore. This water, the pores are so tiny, you have to push the water through instead of letting it go through by itself.”

The improvement project is being paid for by the State Water Commission.

Tags: valley city, devils lake, christina vaughn, flood, news