Devil's Lake (North Dakota)
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| Devil's Lake (North Dakota) | |
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| Location | North Dakota |
| Basin countries | United States |
Devils Lake (often written as Devil's Lake) is a freshwater lake in the U.S. state of North Dakota. It is the largest natural body of water in the state and the second-largest after the artificially created Lake Sakakawea. In 2004, it reached a historical high elevation of 1449.1 ft (441.69 m), an area of 216 mi² (560 km²), and a volume of 2.7 million acre-feet (3.3 km³).
The city of Devils Lake, North Dakota takes its name from the lake.
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[edit] Geography
Devil's Lake is located between Ramsey County and Benson County in northeastern North Dakota. The Spirit Lake Tribe occupies most of the southern shore.
[edit] Hydrology
Devil's Lake is the terminal lake of a drainage basin of some 3,300 mi² (8,600 km²). Above a level of some 1446 ft (441 m) AMSL the lake spills into neighboring Stump Lake. At 1459 ft (445 m) the lake flows naturally into the Sheyenne River, though the lake has not reached this level in many thousands of years.
[edit] Recreation
Devil's Lake has long been a destination for fishing and other watersport. There are a number of boat ramps and other facilities around the lake to facilitate recreational activities on the lake.
Sullys Hill National Game Preserve is located on the lake's southern shore. Grahams Island State Park is located on an island in the lake. Other parks on the lake include Black Tiger State Recreation Area and Shelvers Grove State Recreation Area, which is now closed due to the lake's flooding.
[edit] Issues and controversies
[edit] Outlet controversy
During the most recent wet cycle which began in 1993, the lake rose over 26.5 ft (8.1 m), inundating 140 mi² (363 km²) of primarily agricultural land, necessitating the expenditure of over $400 million in flood protection measures and leading some to call for an emergency outlet into the Sheyenne River.
A proposal from the Army Corps of Engineers would have drawn water from a different point of the lake, included filtration, and been able to discharge a maximum of 300 ft³/s (8 m³/s) of water from Devil's Lake, though it would be subject to the full battery of federal bureaucracy and international negotiation.
The North Dakota government under Governor John Hoeven instead pursued unilateral construction of an outlet, with approval of the state Department of Health. With limited state funding this outlet will remove less water than the federal proposal (limited to a maximum of 100 ft³/s (2.8 m³/s) by the Section 402 NDPDES Permit) and less advanced, without any filtration features, but is faster in providing some relief to the situation. Construction began in 2003 and was completed as of summer 2005.
The outlet has drawn fire from the governments of Minnesota and Manitoba, which maintain that the outlet would create the potential for unacceptable levels of sulfates in the river, and the potential for the transfer of unknown foreign aquatic species into the Red River basin (including Lake Winnipeg, the world's 10th-largest freshwater lake), as the outlet would release untreated water from the lake.
In March 2004, Manitoba, along with Minnesota and several environmental groups, sued the Department of Health in state court over the Devils Lake Outlet 402 NDPDES Permit. The outlet was allowed to proceed in state court rulings August 2004 and May 2005, however, federal courts and the International Joint Commission have yet to weigh in on the issue.
The Canadian government has taken a particular interest in the matter, arguing that completion of the outlet as currently planned would be a violation of the Boundary Waters Treaty of 1909 and Canada's national sovereignty. Thus far, the U.S. has taken the position that the diversion will not be harmful or violate the treaty.
In November 2005, a joint United States and Canadian study concluded that none of the 12 species Canada classifies as invasive were present in Devil's Lake. However, the study did find three species of fish parasites and four kinds of algae that are not currently found in the Red River Basin. Due to these findings, the Government of Manitoba has not swayed from its position that the State of North Dakota install a better filtration system at the outlet of the lake.
A 2006 poll by Friends of the Earth Canada found that the majority of people in Manitoba and North Dakota were aware of the issue and "67.3% of North Dakotans agreed with the statement, 'As a good neighbor, North Dakota should not allow polluted water to enter Canada.' This statement was supported by nearly all of the Manitobans (96%)".
[edit] Carp
Due to the rising waters of the Devils Lake and its basin, streams can flow in two directions: into the Red River Valley or the Devil's Lake Basin. The Red River Valley basin contains a "rough fish", the common carp, which the North Dakota Game and Fish Department fears will enter Devil's Lake basin waters in the near future, allowing the carp to populate Devil's Lake. The carp's fast reproductive growth and the lack of carp predators in the lake will likely help it to dramatically increase in population. This could have drastic consequences for existing populations of game fish such as the walleye and northern pike, which could greatly harm the sport fishing industry.
Some preventative measures have been proposed, including inserting chemicals in the creeks along the boundary of the Devil's Lake Basin and the Red River Valley that do not allow fish to live. Biologists did tests in 2005 which conclude that there are currently no carp in the Devil's Lake Basin, but some have been found within two miles. The carp appear to have been stalled by abundant cattail plants, which make travel difficult to impossible for fish.
[edit] External links
- Devils Lake from the United States Geological Survey website
- Devils Lake from the North Dakota State Water Commission website
- Devils Lake Outlet 402 NDPDES Permit from the North Dakota Department of Health website
- 2006 Poll by Friends of the Earth Canada Poll of opinion in North Dakota and Manitoba on the Devils Lake Outlet issue.
