Preparing For Another Lake Rise

There is a chance Devils Lake could rise significantly next spring.

And a task force is already trying to prepare for that.

According to the USGS there's a 90 percent chance the lake will rise above an elevation of 1450.2, and a 50 percent chance it will get to 1451.

The rising Devils Lake has already destroyed homes and swallowed up tens of thousands of acres of farmland. The task force, made up of people representing local and state entities, is trying to figure out what to do if it keeps rising.

Tim Heisler: "We'll do an overall damage assessment this winter, as the winter progresses, as far as for utilities, homes, roads."

The Corps is starting to design Phase 2 of the embankment that protects the city of Devils Lake. Previously it was treated as a dam, and the Corps needed waivers to do anything different than what dam safety criteria allowed.

Bonnie Greenleaf: "Now we're kind of approaching it as, well, this is really a unique hybrid situation, and it's kind of a levee and kind of a dam."

The lake is also destroying roads as it rises. The DOT has more than 20 miles of grade raises to do around the lake in 2010, and the money to raise them to an elevation of 1460.

Wayde Swenson: "The lake elevation, funding, those things will probably help determine how many of these projects will be constructed next year."

Because of the high levels of precipitation we've had and because of the rising lake, high groundwater levels are also a concern.

Mike Grafsgaard: "Just like last fall, we have this extremely high groundwater. It freezes up like that and in the spring we have these frost boil problems."

The city of Devils Lake is also continuing to talk about a possible east end outlet.

Today the lake is at an elevation of 1449.92.