Feb 05, 2004 - 23:49:23 CST
FARGO -- A 60-year-old idea to bring water from the Missouri River to the Red River Valley can be realized if rural and city leaders work together, the newly elected chairman of the Lake Agassiz Water Authority says.Fargo Mayor Bruce Furness, who was chosen Thursday to head the nine-member board, said he believed concerns raised about the Garrison Diversion water supply project can be satisfied.
Officials in Minnesota and the Canadian province of Manitoba worry that the project will transfer new organisms into their own waters, while the Missouri River's downstream states are concerned about whether North Dakota water demands will affect their own supplies.
"The issue with the downstream states is an issue only because politically they made it one," Furness said. "If the Missouri River was a big pail of water, we're only taking out a thimble-full."
The Garrison project was authorized by Congress in 1944. It was originally intended to control floods, provide lake recreation and supply Missouri River water to central and eastern North Dakota for irrigation and household use.
Its subsequent development has de-emphasized the project's irrigation role, while playing up the possibility of using it to supply water to households in the Red River Valley.
Furness said the region could face a severe water shortage during an extended drought. The six counties that border the Red River make up nearly 44 percent of the state's population, he said.
"I see us working this all out together and having a consensus, because that's the only way it's going to work," Furness told the board. "I don't see us having 5-to-4 votes and having the city interests against the rural interests."
The Lake Agassiz Water Authority, which was created during the 2003 Legislature to oversee water distribution in eastern North Dakota, represents water districts in 13 counties: Barnes, Cass, Cavalier, Grand Forks, Griggs, Nelson, Pembina, Ransom, Richland, Sargent, Steele, Traill and Walsh.
The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and Garrison Diversion Conservancy District are studying possible projects and how they could affect the environment. The Missouri offers more and better water supplies for the area than could be found within the Red River basin, Furness said.
"If there's a solution within the basin, that would be easier to deal with, but we don't think there is," Furness said. "Ninety-six percent of the surface water in North Dakota is in the Missouri River. If you're going to find water in North Dakota, that's where you go."
Grand Forks leaders also are interested in the project because the city wants to build a new water treatment plant in the next 15 years, said Rick Duquette, the city's administrative coordinator.
"Our larger concern is the shortage of water," Duquette said. In the early 1900s, he said, "you could step across the Red River in Grand Forks. We have to be aware of that reality."
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