North Dakota's Water Commission might ask to pump more sulfate into the Sheyenne River to make it easier to operate the Devils Lake water outlet, the commission's chief engineer says.

Any request would require a public hearing, which would stir anew a debate about the wisdom of diverting Devils Lake water into a tributary of the Red River. The $28 million outlet has drawn protests from officials in Canada and Minnesota, who believe the saline water will cause pollution downstream.

"Little by little, the whole river will get to be unusable," said Milt Sauer, of Valley City, the chairman of People to Save the Sheyenne, a group that has opposed the outlet. "This thing is breaking every law that man ever made, and it's just ignored … We've got a mess on our hands, and it's not going to be good."

A Health Department permit allows the outlet to run from May 1 through Nov. 30 if certain water quality and stream flow conditions are met.

Dale Frink, the Water Commission's chief engineer, said high river sulfate levels make it unlikely the outlet will operate Monday, on the first day it will be able to move water. The permit says sulfate levels at river monitoring stations may not average more than 300 milligrams per liter of water each week the outlet is pumping.

Last week, sulfate levels were well above that standard at testing locations on both sides of where the outlet enters the Sheyenne River, said Bruce Engelhardt, a Water Commission engineer.

At a testing station near Warwick, which is farther downstream, the sulfate content was measured at 275 milligrams per liter, Engelhardt said.

Frink said the Water Commission was considering whether to ask that the maximum river sulfate content be increased, or that measuring stations farther downstream be used to determine whether the sulfate standard was being met.

"We haven't gotten into the details. It's going to require a hearing process," Frink said. "Long term, we're going to start thinking about those type of things."

The outlet's pumps can be started up within a few hours if river conditions allow for water flows, Frink said.

"There is a fairly good chance that we'll be able to operate at some time during the year," he said. "We expect (sulfate levels) to fluctuate over time. They certainly could drop down again."

The outlet's existing permit was issued Aug. 22, 2003, and is scheduled to expire June 30, 2008. Dennis Fewless, director of the Health Department's water quality division, said changes to the permit would require public notice and opportunities for comment.

Fewless said Frink has recently inquired with Health Department officials about possible changes in the permit.

"We would wait to see what his request specifically is, and then we would look at a permit modification," Fewless said.

Sulfates occur naturally in the soil, and can leach into water that washes through rocks or soils that contain common minerals. Fertilizer runoff from farm land also can contribute to the problem.

Increased sulfate levels may be attributable to higher groundwater levels in the region, officials said. More water is encountering soils with higher sulfate levels, and making its way into the river, they said.

High sulfate levels can give water a bitter taste, and act as a laxative on people who drink it. The federal Environmental Protection Agency's guidelines set a maximum of 250 milligrams per liter for drinking water.

Fewless said the Sheyenne River's sulfate limit is 450 milligrams per liter. When the Devils Lake outlet permit was being drafted, the maximum seven-day average was set at 300 milligrams per liter to provide some margin, he said.

"It was considered to be what would protect beneficial uses of the river," Fewless said of the 450-milligram limit. "That standard was developed a long time ago. If requested, we will evaluate all aspects of (the outlet permit)."

Michelle Mostrom, a veterinary toxicologist in North Dakota State University's veterinary diagnostic laboratory, said sulfate concentrations of up to 500 milligrams per liter would be "really safe" for livestock.

"I generally say, if you stay under 1,500 (milligrams per liter), you probably won't have problems," Mostrom said. Ranchers would have to consider the temperature and how much water their animals were drinking, she said.

Devils Lake has more than tripled in size since the early 1990s, and the National Weather Service predicts it is almost certain to reach 1,449.35 feet above sea level this year. That would be the highest measured level since North Dakota became a state.