Devil's Lake (North Dakota)
Encyclopedia
Devils Lake is a lake
Lake
A lake is a body of relatively still fresh or salt water of considerable size, localized in a basin, that is surrounded by land. Lakes are inland and not part of the ocean and therefore are distinct from lagoons, and are larger and deeper than ponds. Lakes can be contrasted with rivers or streams,...

 in the U.S. state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...

 of North Dakota
North Dakota
North Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States of America, along the Canadian border. The state is bordered by Canada to the north, Minnesota to the east, South Dakota to the south and Montana to the west. North Dakota is the 19th-largest state by area in the U.S....

. It is the largest natural body of water and the second-largest body of water in North Dakota after the artificially created Lake Sakakawea
Lake Sakakawea
Lake Sakakawea is a reservoir in the Missouri River basin in central North Dakota. Named for the Shoshone-Hidatsa woman Sakakawea, it is the third largest man-made lake in the United States, after Lake Mead and Lake Powell. The lake lies in parts of six counties in western North Dakota: Dunn,...

. In 2011, it reached an unofficial historical high elevation of 1454.20 feet. Additional rises above 1454.20 feet are still possible this spring and summer with rainfall and wave action. The lake can reach 1458.0 before naturally flowing into the Sheyenne River
Sheyenne River
The Sheyenne River is one of the major tributaries of the Red River of the North, meandering across eastern North Dakota.The river begins about north of McClusky, North Dakota, and flows generally eastward before turning south near McVille. The southerly flow of the river continues through Griggs...

 via the Tolna Coulee.
The city of Devils Lake, North Dakota
Devils Lake, North Dakota
As of the 2000 Census, there were 7,222 people, 3,127 households, and 1,773 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 3,508 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 89.23% White, 0.22% African American, 7.84% Native American, 0.28%...

, takes its name from the lake.

Geography

Devils Lake is located in Ramsey County
Ramsey County, North Dakota
-National protected area:*Lake Alice National Wildlife Refuge *Silver Lake National Wildlife Refuge -Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 12,066 people, 4,957 households, and 3,187 families residing in the county. The population density was 10 people per square mile . There were...

 and Benson County
Benson County, North Dakota
-Major highways:* U.S. Highway 2* U.S. Highway 281* North Dakota Highway 19* North Dakota Highway 20* North Dakota Highway 57-National protected areas:*Pleasant Lake National Wildlife Refuge*Silver Lake National Wildlife Refuge...

 in northeastern North Dakota. The Spirit Lake Tribe
Spirit Lake Tribe
The Spirit Lake Tribe is a Sioux tribe. Its reservation is located in east-central North Dakota on the southern shores of Devils Lake...

 occupies most of the southern shore.

Hydrology

Devils Lake is the endorheic
Endorheic
An endorheic basin is a closed drainage basin that retains water and allows no outflow to other bodies of water such as rivers or oceans...

, or closed, lake of a drainage basin
Drainage basin
A drainage basin is an extent or an area of land where surface water from rain and melting snow or ice converges to a single point, usually the exit of the basin, where the waters join another waterbody, such as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary, wetland, sea, or ocean...

 of some 3,800 mi² (9,800 km²), the Devils Lake Basin. The lake itself collects around 86 percent of the basin's water runoff. Above a level of some 1,447 ft (441 m)(NAVD88) AMSL the lake spills into neighboring Stump Lake. At 1,458 ft (444 m) (NAVD88) the combined lake flows naturally into the Sheyenne River
Sheyenne River
The Sheyenne River is one of the major tributaries of the Red River of the North, meandering across eastern North Dakota.The river begins about north of McClusky, North Dakota, and flows generally eastward before turning south near McVille. The southerly flow of the river continues through Griggs...

, though the lake has not reached this level in approximately 1000 years. The Sheyenne River is a tributary to the Red River
Red River of the North
The Red River is a North American river. Originating at the confluence of the Bois de Sioux and Otter Tail rivers in the United States, it flows northward through the Red River Valley and forms the border between the U.S. states of Minnesota and North Dakota before continuing into Manitoba, Canada...

, which flows into Canada, with eventual exit into the Hudson Bay
Hudson Bay
Hudson Bay , sometimes called Hudson's Bay, is a large body of saltwater in northeastern Canada. It drains a very large area, about , that includes parts of Ontario, Quebec, Saskatchewan, Alberta, most of Manitoba, southeastern Nunavut, as well as parts of North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota,...

. Current dike protection is set at 1454 ft (443 m)(NAVD88).

Under normal conditions, Devils Lake is shallow, saline
Salinity
Salinity is the saltiness or dissolved salt content of a body of water. It is a general term used to describe the levels of different salts such as sodium chloride, magnesium and calcium sulfates, and bicarbonates...

, and hypereutrophic (very high in nutrients). During periods of excessive precipitation, however, the lake can be quite deep (up to 60 feet (18.3 m) in places), eutrophic (rich in minerals, nutrients, and organisms), with decreased salinity due to dilution.

Salinity

Because Devils Lake is endorheic
Endorheic
An endorheic basin is a closed drainage basin that retains water and allows no outflow to other bodies of water such as rivers or oceans...

, the lake tends to be much higher in salinity
Salinity
Salinity is the saltiness or dissolved salt content of a body of water. It is a general term used to describe the levels of different salts such as sodium chloride, magnesium and calcium sulfates, and bicarbonates...

 than are lakes with outlets to river systems. This is similar to the Great Salt Lake
Great Salt Lake
The Great Salt Lake, located in the northern part of the U.S. state of Utah, is the largest salt water lake in the western hemisphere, the fourth-largest terminal lake in the world. In an average year the lake covers an area of around , but the lake's size fluctuates substantially due to its...

 in Utah
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...

. Lower water levels increase salinity threatening fish and wildlife. Salinity levels in the lake have been one prominent aspect of the debate over diversion of lake water into the Sheyenne River
Sheyenne River
The Sheyenne River is one of the major tributaries of the Red River of the North, meandering across eastern North Dakota.The river begins about north of McClusky, North Dakota, and flows generally eastward before turning south near McVille. The southerly flow of the river continues through Griggs...

, with questions of the potential environmental impact of the diverted water on downstream rivers, lakes, and communities.

Flooding



Devils Lake is well-known for its wide variations in lake levels, with large swings between low and high water levels. This owes in large part to its nature as a closed-basin lake, lacking a natural outlet. The release of water is dependent upon evaporation and seepage.

The low, flat terrain around Devils Lake consists of various coulees, channels
Channel (geography)
In physical geography, a channel is the physical confine of a river, slough or ocean strait consisting of a bed and banks.A channel is also the natural or human-made deeper course through a reef, sand bar, bay, or any shallow body of water...

, and basins
Drainage basin
A drainage basin is an extent or an area of land where surface water from rain and melting snow or ice converges to a single point, usually the exit of the basin, where the waters join another waterbody, such as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary, wetland, sea, or ocean...

, which may be separated during times of low water, or connected during high water. Thus the boundaries of the lake can vary greatly from year to year, depending on the amount of precipitation.

The conversion of natural flood control mechanisms into agricultural land has had an effect on the flooding at Devils Lake. Drainage of the basin's wetlands and conversion of the basin's native prairie
Prairie
Prairies are considered part of the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome by ecologists, based on similar temperate climates, moderate rainfall, and grasses, herbs, and shrubs, rather than trees, as the dominant vegetation type...

 to cropland allows water to move more rapidly into the lake, increasing water levels. In addition, the diversion of natural water flows has also been viewed as a contributor to the flooding.

An increase in precipitation between 1993 and 1999 caused the lake to double in size, forcing the displacement of over 300 homes and flooding 70000 acres (283.3 km²) of farmland. Attempts to mitigate the flooding have reportedly cost North Dakota
North Dakota
North Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States of America, along the Canadian border. The state is bordered by Canada to the north, Minnesota to the east, South Dakota to the south and Montana to the west. North Dakota is the 19th-largest state by area in the U.S....

 and the U.S. Government over $450 million. Efforts to control flooding include dike construction and moving railroad lines, roads, and power lines.

In response to the flooding, the U.S. Congress directed the Army Corps of Engineers to research construction of an outlet in 1997 to control the lake level through methods other than evaporation or natural overflow. The Corps' design included mechanisms for filtration and monitoring of the water, and was estimated to cost $186.5 million.

North Dakota
North Dakota
North Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States of America, along the Canadian border. The state is bordered by Canada to the north, Minnesota to the east, South Dakota to the south and Montana to the west. North Dakota is the 19th-largest state by area in the U.S....

, objecting to the cost and certain water quality provisions of the plan, declined to participate in construction of the Corps' outlet. In 2003, the state constructed its own outlet to divert water from Devils Lake into the Sheyenne River
Sheyenne River
The Sheyenne River is one of the major tributaries of the Red River of the North, meandering across eastern North Dakota.The river begins about north of McClusky, North Dakota, and flows generally eastward before turning south near McVille. The southerly flow of the river continues through Griggs...

 at a cost of $28 million. The outlet was completed in 2005, but was not operated in 2006 due to water quality and biota
Biota (ecology)
Biota are the total collection of organisms of a geographic region or a time period, from local geographic scales and instantaneous temporal scales all the way up to whole-planet and whole-timescale spatiotemporal scales. The biota of the Earth lives in the biosphere.-See...

 issues. The outlet operated at the maximum permitted rate for the first time in July 2009.

The National Weather Service is the official government agency responsible for observing and predicting water levels at Devils Lake.

Recreation

Devils Lake has long been known for fishing
Fishing
Fishing is the activity of trying to catch wild fish. Fish are normally caught in the wild. Techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping....

 and other watersports. It has been named the perch
Perch
Perch is a common name for fish of the genus Perca, freshwater gamefish belonging to the family Percidae. The perch, of which there are three species in different geographical areas, lend their name to a large order of vertebrates: the Perciformes, from the Greek perke meaning spotted, and the...

 capital of the world. There are a number of boat ramps and other facilities around the lake to facilitate recreational activities on the lake. Recreation in the form of open water and ice fishing is estimated to have generated more than $20 million dollars annually.

Sullys Hill National Game Preserve
Sullys Hill National Game Preserve
Sullys Hill National Game Preserve is a National Wildlife Refuge located on the shore of Devil's Lake in Benson County, North Dakota, within the lands of the Spirit Lake Tribe...

 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.

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, lessening the reliance of drainage on overflow or evaporation. The Corps of Engineers estimated project costs to amount to $186.5 million, with the United States Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....

 designating $100 million to the project; North Dakota
North Dakota
North Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States of America, along the Canadian border. The state is bordered by Canada to the north, Minnesota to the east, South Dakota to the south and Montana to the west. North Dakota is the 19th-largest state by area in the U.S....

 would have paid the remaining amount.

The North Dakota government under Governor John Hoeven
John Hoeven
John Henry Hoeven III is the junior United States Senator from North Dakota. He is a member of the North Dakota Republican Party. He is expected to become the state's senior senator when Kent Conrad retires from the Senate in January 2013.Hoeven served as the 31st Governor of North Dakota,...

, objecting to water quality provisions and the amount of necessary funding, instead constructed its own outlet, with approval of the North Dakota Department of Health and the U.S. State Department and Council For Environmental Quality. Though North Dakota's outlet, which cost $28 million, has a lower maximum discharge than the federal proposal (limited to a maximum of 100 ft³/s (2.8 m³/s) by the Section 402 NDPDES Permit) and includes a gravel filter for the removal of larger organisms, it has provided some relief to the flood problem. Construction began in 2003 and was completed as of summer 2005.

The outlet drew opposition from the governments of Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...

 and Manitoba
Manitoba
Manitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...

. They argue the outlet would create the potential for the transfer of unknown foreign aquatic species and high levels of sulfates into the Red River
Red River of the North
The Red River is a North American river. Originating at the confluence of the Bois de Sioux and Otter Tail rivers in the United States, it flows northward through the Red River Valley and forms the border between the U.S. states of Minnesota and North Dakota before continuing into Manitoba, Canada...

 basin and Lake Winnipeg
Lake Winnipeg
Lake Winnipeg is a large, lake in central North America, in the province of Manitoba, Canada, with its southern tip about north of the city of Winnipeg...

, the world's 10th-largest freshwater 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 court ruled the outlet could proceed in August 2004 and May 2005.

In addition, though the Boundary Waters Treaty of 1909 established an intermediary, the International Joint Commission
International Joint Commission
The International Joint Commission is an independent binational organization established by the United States and Canada under the Boundary Waters Treaty of 1909.The Commission has responsibilities related to the following treaties and agreements:...

 (IJC), through which the United States and Canada can solve cross-boundary water disputes, the IJC has no power to act without invocation by both nations. Canada attempted to invoke the IJC for purposes of conflict resolution, but the United States did not, effectively preventing the IJC from taking part in the controversy.

The Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 government argues it is a violation of the Boundary Waters Treaty of 1909 and Canada's national sovereignty. The U.S. government contends the diversion will not be harmful or violate the treaty under current conditions.

In November 2005, a joint United States and Canadian study concluded that none of the 13 species Canada classifies as invasive were present in Devils Lake. The study did find three species of fish parasites that are not currently known to exist in Lake Winnipeg. However, all three are ubiquitous to the waters of North America and have a wide variety of hosts. A difficulty inherent in determining what species are in Devils Lake versus Lake Winnipeg results from spatial relationships. Lake Winnipeg covers approximately 9,400 mi² (24,300 km²), dozens of times larger than Devils Lake. In addition, the Devils Lake Basin is significantly smaller than the watersheds feeding Lake Winnipeg, including the Saskatchewan River basin at approximately 56,000 mi² (145,000 km²). Drawing conclusions about the biological community already in Lake Winnipeg is difficult, due to the relative lack of biological sampling compared to Devils Lake.

Carp

Due to the rising waters of the Devils Lake and its basin, streams can flow in two directions: into the Red River Valley
Red River Valley
The Red River Valley is a region in central North America that is drained by the Red River of the North. It is significant in the geography of North Dakota, Minnesota, and Manitoba for its relatively fertile lands and the population centers of Fargo, Moorhead, Grand Forks, and Winnipeg...

 or the Devils Lake Basin. The Red River Valley basin contains a "rough fish", the common carp
Common carp
The Common carp is a widespread freshwater fish of eutrophic waters in lakes and large rivers in Europe and Asia. The wild populations are considered vulnerable to extinction, but the species has also been domesticated and introduced into environments worldwide, and is often considered an invasive...

, which the North Dakota Game and Fish Department fears will enter Devils Lake basin waters in the near future, allowing the carp to populate Devils 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
Walleye
Walleye is a freshwater perciform fish native to most of Canada and to the northern United States. It is a North American close relative of the European pikeperch...

 and northern pike
Northern Pike
The northern pike , is a species of carnivorous fish of the genus Esox...

, which could greatly harm the sport fishing industry.

Some preventive measures have been proposed, including inserting chemicals in the creeks along the boundary of the Devils Lake Basin and the Red River Valley to kill fish. Biologists did tests in 2005 which conclude that there are currently no carp in the Devils Lake Basin, but some have been found within two miles (3 km). The carp appear to have been stalled by the abundant cattail plants, which makes travel impossible for the fish.

Railroad Problems

In 2009, the BNSF Railway
BNSF Railway
The BNSF Railway is a wholly owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., and is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas. It is one of seven North American Class I railroads and the second largest freight railroad network in North America, second only to the Union Pacific Railroad, its primary...

 ended freight service between Devils Lake and Church's Ferry, a total of 19 miles (30.6 km), in favor of the KO Subdivision, due to the lake's rising waters. Amtrak
Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak , is a government-owned corporation that was organized on May 1, 1971, to provide intercity passenger train service in the United States. "Amtrak" is a portmanteau of the words "America" and "track". It is headquartered at Union...

's Empire Builder
Empire Builder
The Empire Builder is a passenger train route operated by Amtrak in the Midwestern and Northwestern United States. It is Amtrak's busiest long-distance route and busiest daily train, carrying more than 500,000 travelers annually since 2007. Overall, it is the railroad's 10th-busiest line. Before...

 currently operates on this route, servicing Grand Forks, Devils Lake, and Rugby, ND. BNSF has offered Amtrak the right to operate over the KO subdivision, and even suggest Amtrak make a station stop at New Rockford, but Amtrak has stated that they will continue using the line. In the next few years, Amtrak will either have to rebuild the bridge that crosses the lake in Church's Ferry, or reroute.

On June 15, 2011, it was announced that BNSF and Amtrak had reached an agreement to each cover one-third of the cost of rebuilding the rail line, with the government left to cover the remaining third.

External links

  • Devils Lake from the United States Geological Survey
    United States Geological Survey
    The United States Geological Survey is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, and the natural hazards that threaten it. The organization has four major science disciplines, concerning biology,...

  • Devils Lake hydrograph from the National Weather Service
    National Weather Service
    The National Weather Service , once known as the Weather Bureau, is one of the six scientific agencies that make up the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of the United States government...

  • Devils Lake from the North Dakota State Water Commission
  • Devils Lake Outlet 402 NDPDES Permit from the North Dakota Department of Health
  • Legal Article/Analysis Devils Lake, Social Sciences Research Network. North Dakota Law Review
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