It will take an emergency declaration and swift action by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, but it appears the 403 families in and around Parshall may have uninterrupted water from Lake Sakakawea this winter.

The corps is prepared to extend the town's water intake far enough out into the lake to elude the oncoming freeze-up, but time is already running short.

The town's intake is down at elevation 1,810, and with the lake heading toward a record low of 1,814 in February, there's worry a solid freeze would restrict any water from coming through.

The agreement to extend the intake another 900 feet out to 1,800 came Tuesday at a meeting with Parshall officials, the corps and the state Disaster Emergency Management.

Russell Timmreck, of the emergency management office, said the corps can provide a temporary fix, but not a permanent one, under its regulations.

Timmreck said he'll get the necessary paperwork to the corps this week and was told the corps could expedite the bid process to extend the intake pipeline in two weeks to 30 days.

The corps representative was from the Omaha, Neb., district office and couldn't be reached for comment.

The corps also requires an emergency declaration from the governor's office, he said.

The plan is to get Parshall's intake extended by mid-December, which is nearing the traditional date when the big lake freezes over.

"There's no ice forming on this," Timmreck said. "This one's a hot issue."

Parshall Auditor Loren Hoffman said the town's already spent about $10,000, including money to restart underground wells, if needed. The town abandoned those wells in 1985 in favor of lake water, because the well water is of poor quality.

Any water is better than no water, but Hoffman said city officials hope the corps can keep the lake water coming because the town's water treatment plant is designed for that supply.

He said the corps helped extend the city's intake to where it is back in 1991, when water reached what was then a record low of near 1,815.

He said divers already removed some of the intake superstructure to prevent it from being damaged by ice, but left the pipe on the lake bottom. The town also will install a bubbler aerator over the end of the pipe, Hoffman said.

Come spring, Timmreck said Parshall will look at extending its intake a couple of miles out into the lake's original river channel, deep enough to prevent water intake problems in the future.

"This (extension) is a short-term fix. The long-term would be all the way to the channel," he said.

Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., contacted corps officials Monday, asking what it plans to do for Parshall and for the names and locations of any other communities whose water supply could be in jeopardy because of low lake levels.

"These problems only highlight the need for the corps to complete its long overdue revision of the Missouri River Master Manual," Dorgan said.

The corps said it expects to complete its revision this spring, a process that's taken more than 14 years.

(Reach reporter Lauren Donovan at 888-303-5511 or scoop@ndonline.com.)