[Excerpts from Feb. 26 USACE News Release]
The Army's Chief of Engineers, Lieutenant General Robert B. Flowers, has identified a constructed outlet at Pelican Lake as the preferred alternative to alleviate flood damage at Devils Lake in North Dakota if the lake continues to rise. The final Environmental Impact Statement will be released soon for public review. The Chief will use all information gathered during that review in making his final recommendation to Congress.

In 1997, Congress directed the Army Corps of Engineers to examine the feasibility of an emergency outlet and to prepare an environmental impact statement. In the Omnibus Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2003 just signed by the President, the Congress directs the Corps to construct an emergency outlet from Devils Lake to the Sheyenne River, subject to several conditions. One requirement is to have assurances from the Secretary of State that the project will not violate the Boundary Waters Treaty.

The Army Corps of Engineers has examined the Pelican Lake outlet alternative in detail in an integrated planning report and final environmental impact statement that the Corps will release for public review in the near future. Following public review of the final environmental impact statement, Lt. Gen. Flowers will recommend a course of action. If he chooses the Pelican Lake outlet plan after considering the public comments, other federal and state agencies would have to take additional actions before the outlet could be constructed and operated. Those actions include assurances provided by the Secretary of State, water quality certification by the state of North Dakota, and a Department of Interior determination regarding compatibility of the outlet with Lake Alice National Wildlife Refuge.

Full Release
USACE St. Paul Devils Lake Page

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