Oct 08, 2005 - 06:01:36 CDT
GRAND FORKS (AP) - A group representing 13 counties has endorsed a plan to bring Missouri River water to the Red River Basin.The option endorsed this week by the Lake Agassiz Water Authority was one of eight under consideration to help Red River communities meet projected growth through 2050, especially during a severe drought.
Missouri River water would reach the Red River with help from the existing McClusky Canal, linked with Lake Sakakawea as part of the incomplete Garrison Diversion project. A buried pipeline would move water from the end of the 74-mile canal east to Lake Ashtabula, near Valley City.
Lake Ashtabula would act as a regulating reservoir. Water then would be released as needed into the Sheyenne River, which in turn flows into the Red River north of Fargo.
The project would cost an estimated $500 million to $660 million to build and a projected $1.2 million annually to operate, according to a preliminary review by the federal Bureau of Reclamation.
The proposal would have to go through state and federal review. The governments of Canada and Minnesota, worried about the potential transfer of material from the Missouri River into their waters, are watching closely.
The Missouri River water would be treated before it reached the Red River watershed under the preferred option, but "the method or degree of treatment has not been decided yet ... and that is a federal responsibility," Lake Agassiz authority spokeswoman Merri Mooridian said Thursday.
A federal biota risk treatment study about Missouri River water concluded that an insignificant risk of harmful biota transfer exists as long as the water is treated, Mooridian said.
The authority board, which began meeting in February 2004, includes participation from the Minnesota river cities of East Grand Forks, Moorhead and Breckenridge.
The board preferred the Missouri River option over six other "action alternatives," including one that would have tapped Minnesota's Lake of the Woods to enhance the Red River's water supply.
A preliminary study concluded the Lake of the Woods option would cost between $940 million and $1.11 billion.
The board of the Garrison Diversion Conservancy District gave its approval Friday to the Missouri River option, which is to be presented to the state Water Commission.
The Missouri River option "meets our water needs, and it gives us the most flexibility to enhance the environment in the Sheyenne River and to meet the water needs of the (Red River) Valley," said Dave Koland, the Garrison Diversion general manager, and secretary of the Lake Agassiz authority.
Mooridian said a drought projection study using the Red River Valley's 2005 population concluded that the valley would run short of water every year during a 10-year drought.
Census figures show authority's 13 eastern counties have about 272,000 people. The Bureau of Reclamation estimates a 2050 population of 417,000, an estimate board members and some others feel is too low, Mooridian said.
A draft federal environmental impact statement featuring all the alternatives is to be released by year's end. Public hearings are expected in February. The final environmental impact statement is due by the end of 2006.
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