3:53 p.m. - DEVILS LAKE (AP) -- Testing of the pumps in the state's Devils Lake outlet is planned for next week, the state Water Commission engineer says.

If the tests of the four pumps go as planned, the $28 million outlet could be ready to start moving water the following week, engineer Dale Frink said

"We're going to start the pump tests on August 4th," Frink said. The tests will last a couple of days, he said.

"Operation (of the outlet) could go the next week, but it will depend on how the pump test goes," Frink told Devils Lake radio station KZZY.

The commission plans to post information about the outlet on its Web site, www.SWC.state.nd.us, he said.

"All the pumping and even some of the water quality data will be available on the Internet," Frink said.

The lake tied its record high at 1,449.1 feet Monday, the National Weather Service said, a day after Canadian opponents of a floodwater diversion program rallied at the Manitoba Legislature.

The state's outlet will release Devils Lake water into the Sheyenne River and ultimately the Red River, which flows north into Canada. It is aimed at easing flooding that has caused millions of dollars in damage over the last decade.

The start of the outlet was delayed from July, after heavy rain hit the basin.

Canadian officials fear the transfer of pollutants and foreign organisms into their waters, and they have been lobbying to refer the project to the International Joint Commission, which referees boundary water disputes.

North Dakota officials say the outlet is environmentally sound.