Following a tour of the Tolna Coulee Tuesday morning, city government officials from Devils Lake and Valley City gathered for a chat.
The meeting was held at the Devils Lake city offices and drew a nice crowd of media representatives and other interests.
Devils Lake City Engineer Mike Grafsgaard explained what his city has been doing and hopes to do as the ongoing flood fight continues.
“We have already begun the first phase for expanding our flood protection. Once complete, the embankment will likely increase in length from eight miles to nearly 12 miles,” Grafsgaard said.
Grafsgaard went on to talk of the letter Mayor Fred Bott sent to Valley City Mayor Mary Nielson explaining how the outlet can benefit both cities.
The top level of the current flood protection for the city is at 1460. This level will increase by an additional five to eight feet as part of our next flood protection work with the Corps.
“There is potential for an uncontrolled spill, and we want to see what we can do about it now,” added Grafsgaard.
“And whatever we do, we want to do it with the best water quality possible because of downstream concerns.”
Grafsgaard was questioned about the possible cost of an outlet and the outflow.
One Valley City official expressed doubt the lake would ever reach spillover levels, citing a projected 94 per cent chance of that never happening.
And he expressed what good flushing large amounts of water down the Sheyenne River would do.
“It would have to be at a much more significant rate than it is now,” he added.
Bott said Devils Lake is now in a fact-finding mode and wants Valley City to visualize the situation and discussions to continue between the two communities.
“We felt it was important for Valley City to come and see our problems and we'll be willing to go there and see what they're facing,” added Bott.
“We all need to work together.”
The Valley City Mayor expressed her concerns about water quality from Devils Lake, and plans a public information meeting in her city to address concerns.
She, too, expressed her appreciation for the opportunity to talk because her concern is to keep the Sheyenne River as clean as possible.
Devils Lake Commissioner Rick Morse suggested a possible flyover of the lake so Valley City could get an even better idea of where things stand.
“We're all in this together, so it's great to be able to talk like this,” added Commissioner Dick Johnson.
Both groups suggested further meetings in the near future.
