Robert T. Kristjanson makes his living as a commercial fisherman on Lake Winnipeg and he is concerned about the quality of water coming from Devils Lake into Canada.
The 75-year-old and his family come from a long line of commercial fishermen that go for the abundant walleye and white fish in the big lake.
“Our family has fished the waters of Lake Winnipeg continuously for over 118 years,” Kristjanson said. His 46-year old son has been working with him for over 30 years and his son, Kristjanson’s grandson, has been doing it, too, for the last two years.
“Even my daughter is up to her armpits in the same thing,” Kristjanson said.
It’s a family affair for the Krisjansons, just as it is for hundreds of commercial fishing families from towns like Gimli, Manitoba that line the shores of the fresh water lake which is as large as one of the Great Lakes.
“We’re not talking just a few pounds of fish taken by sport fishermen, but millions of pounds netted in gill nets each season,” Kristjanson explained.
The government of Canada regulates the fishing industry so closely that there are only certain times of the year commercial fishing can be done. They also closely monitor the quality of water coming into the lake with 149 different tests and constant research to guard the water quality for the industry.
The area where Kristjanson lives was settled in 1875 by mostly people of Icelandic descent, in fact, according to Kristjanson (pronounced like Christianson) the name of that portion of Manitoba was originally New Iceland.
He and his wife Sigurros have been married for 55 years and through the years have become good friends with Ramsey County Commissioner Joe Belford. They were in Devils Lake recently to visit Belford and to attend some of the flood update meetings around North Dakota. The pair have visited Devils Lake many times through the years. Kristjanson said they have grown quite fond of the area.
He is concerned about the sulfate levels rising in the lake which provides his community with a living. Kristjanson also expressed concern for residents of the Lake Region who are suffering because of flooding.
He said he noticed a change in the test results beginning in 1992.
“What you need to do is harness this devil of a lake,” Kristjanson said. “You have a potenial gold mine here if you could only see it.”
He advocates for a control facility and treatment plant that would remove the harmful minerals from the water.
“You clean up the sulfates and find a source to market the byproducts and everyone will be coming to you for your fresh, clean water,” he suggests.
He’s been following the water situation in the Devils Lake Basin since the early days of Garrison Diversion and sees the current crisis the area is facing as an opportunity that could really benefit the basin and the whole state one day, if it’s handled correctly.
He also advocates for the two countries to work together to solve the problem and admits there is no easy answer and perhaps no one solution.
“The rising waters of Devils Lake and the potential for an uncontrolled spill into the Sheyenne River, which empties into the Red River, which empties into Lake Winnipeg is not just your problem, here, it’s our problem, too, the sooner we see that, the better,” Kristjanson said.
Devils Lake, ND —
