Devils Lake might already have hit its high point for the year, nearly 2 feet lower than the record high it set just a year ago.

Runoff into the lake this spring might be the lowest in 15 years, said Todd Sando, assistant state engineer for the North Dakota Water Commission. "It looks like Devils Lake has already peaked," he said. "It's not usually until June or July."

A major rainfall could change the outlook, Sando said, but the lake situation this spring is "a real good sign."

A succession of wet years, starting in the early 1990s, more than tripled the size of the lake. Tens of thousands of acres of land have been flooded, and hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent on infrastructure work, including a dike for the city of Devils Lake and work on raising roads in the region. Still more road work is needed this year, Ramsey County Commissioner Joe Belford said.

Flooding also has caused problems at nearby Stump Lake, in Nelson County. Sando said the two lakes might reach the same elevation this summer and become one continuous lake. Belford said that has not happened for 180 years.

Flooding "is still a real difficult problem," Sando said.

Soil and wetlands in the upper Devils Lake basin absorbed much of the snowmelt runoff this spring.

"So far, we haven't got much (new) water" in the lake, Sando said. "If we see normal rainfall, the lake should be dropping this year."

Mark Ewens, the data manager for the Grand Forks office of the National Weather Service, agreed with Sando's outlook, "with the caveat that you have no significant rains this month and in June."

With normal precipitation through summer, the most the lake would rise would be a couple of tenths of a foot, Ewens said.

Belford, who has been working for the Water Commission more than a decade to raise awareness in the United States and Canada about Devils Lake flooding problems, said there is a new message this year.

A 15-member group of local and state officials, along with representatives of North Dakota's congressional delegation and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, will focus on trying to "change the philosophy of the lake from a disaster to a positive situation," Belford said.

"It is one of the top five walleye fisheries in the country," he said. "We need to tap that resource to survive and grow in the area because of everything we have lost."

Devils Lake hit a record 1,449.2 feet above sea level on May 9, 2006. Dry weather caused the lake to fall throughout the summer, and it froze at 1,446.9 feet.

On Thursday, the lake was at 1,447.4 feet and had declined slightly from the start of the week.

The dry weather, while helping stop the lake's rise, has hampered efforts to use a $28 million outlet that drains excess lake water into the Sheyenne River. The outlet has not operated since 2005, because the Sheyenne's sulfate levels have been too high.

A state Health Department permit that governs the outlet's operation does not allow downstream water to exceed a certain amount of sulfate, which exists naturally in soil and groundwater.

The limit is 450 milligrams per liter, and Sando said the level last week was 560 milligrams. The only thing that will bring the level down is "a rather major rain event" that would provide an influx of fresh water to the Sheyenne, he said.

The acceptable sulfate level under the permit had been even lower - 300 milligrams per liter - but the Health Department revised the permit last August and a state district judge last month upheld the change.

The Canadian province of Manitoba is appealing the ruling to the North Dakota Supreme Court, Manitoba's attorney, William Delmore of Mandan, said Thursday. Manitoba fears the outlet will pollute its waters because the Sheyenne empties into the north-flowing Red River.

Belford said the new task force will be focusing on more positive things, such as usable boat ramps and parks for tourists' recreational vehicles. But he said officials also have to remain diligent about informing government leaders and the public that a flooding disaster still exists.

The Water Commission this week approved hiring Belford for another year to work on Devils Lake issues. He has been doing the job since 1995, racking up 70,000 air miles and 250,000 miles on two personal vehicles.

"It's astounding this has gone on so long," said Lee Klapprodt, the Water Commission's director of planning and information.