DEVILS LAKE (AP) - A group opposing the Devils Lake outlet says the job of explaining and promoting the flood control project, a job now held by Ramsey County Commissioner Joe Belford, should be eliminated.

"Records show that the (State Water Commission) and other agencies have paid Mr. Belford almost half a million dollars over the past 10 years," the group called People to Save the Sheyenne said in a statement.

The outlet was built in 2005 to remove water from the flooding lake into the nearby Sheyenne River, which joins the Red River. It has been opposed by downstream interests and the governments of Manitoba and Minnesota, who worry about the transfer of potentially harmful material through the waterways.

Belford said he has worked as "downstream acceptance coordinator" since 1995, earning $45,000 a year for the job. He said he volunteered at no pay for two years. Since 1997, his pay has been shared by the State Water Commission, Garrison Diversion Conservancy District and Devils Lake Basin Joint Water Resource group, he said.

The job involves "trying to get people to accept our water," Belford said.

The $28 million, 14-mile outlet began operating in August 2005, but it has been limited by high sulfate levels in the Sheyenne, a crack in its intake structure and vandalism to a valve.

The State Water Commission has had a full-time employee for outlet operation since Sept. 1, 2005, and that salary is part of the $1 million operating cost, assistant state engineer Todd Sando said.

Carl Duchscher, the maintenance supervisor for the Devils Lake outlet, earns about $37,000 a year, Sando said.