State of North Dakota Planning Ahead for Major Flooding
February 16, 2009
With memories still fresh with respect to the floods that occurred in 1997, North Dakota state officials are looking ahead to what is considered to be significant flooding, that is expected to occur in the Devils Lake region and the Red River Valley. This follows months of heavy rain and snowfall.
A hearing of federal, state and local officials was convened this week by Senator Byron Dorgan, a Democrat from North Dakota, in order to discuss plans for mitigating the possible Devils Lake flooding and in eastern North Dakota and northwestern Minnesota along the Red River.
Senator Dorgan points out that it is not possible to control Mother Nature. He says that the important thing is to try to comprehend what's required and what can be done to alert everybody, including the Army Corps of Engineers and the cities, and to hope that the preparation will help in avoiding substantial damage if there is a major event.
Flood preparations were described by state and local officials including the Corps of Engineers, the National Weather Service. It is the general hope that the state will be spared the major floods such as those that engulfed Grand Forks in 1997 leading to the evacuation of tens of thousands of state residents.
The current projections are discouraging. Forecasters are estimating a nearly 99 percent chance that the record level of 1,449.2 feet water levels at Devils Lake will be exceeded. At the present time the lake level is at 1,447.17 feet.
It is projected that there is a 25 percent chance that the lake will surpass the 1452.1 feet level. The chance of the lake level reaching within a foot of the dike protection level of 1,455 feet is 2 percent. There is a five-foot freeboard on the dike which is additional space to allow for the action of waves.
A 50 percent to 75 percent chance of major flooding in the Red River Valley is being predicted be federal forecasters.
National Weather Service forecaster Scott Dummer says that the threat for flooding this spring in that part of the country is considered high.
About 23 days in December according to Dummer, snow hit Devils Lake, leaving 24.5 inches falling in the region following Dec. 14th. This was combined with a record wet autumn in the cities of Devils Lake, Fargo and Grand Forks.
About $500 million has been spent since 1993, in the area of Devils Lake, to raise up and to relocate roads, build dikes in the city and to move homes and buildings. There is a population of 7,000 in the city.
There can be a loss of about 33,000 acres of prime farm land according to Dale Frink, North Dakota's state engineer, if the lake rises 4 feet to 1,451 feet.