Minnewaukan wants to move part of town

MINNEWAUKAN, N.D. (AP) — Minnewaukan officials and North Dakota Sen. Kent Conrad are making a formal push for the federal government to approve an emergency project to move part of the Benson County seat of about 300 people to higher ground.

The higher ground away from the threatening floodwaters of Devils Lake is across an already relocated U.S. Highway 281.

Minnewaukan is on Devils Lake's western edge and has been battling floodwaters for years. The situation has steadily become more dire, and the town's future has become uncertain.

Thirteen homes were moved or demolished this summer, and five more are in the works.

With a new school year about to begin Monday, a temporary 3-to-5-foot embankment is being built in a school parking lot to protect that building.

Tags: north dakota legislature, minnewaukan, news