What to do with Devils Lake? by Barbora Misakova

Devils Lake – that is a devil of a problem of North Dakota. This lake is a slow-growing monster. Over the last 20 years it has steadily expanded and swallowed up thousands of acres, hundreds of buildings and at least two towns. As there is no natural river or stream to carry away excess rain and snowmelt, Devils Lake is getting larger and larger every year what makes downstream communities desperate. Joe Belford, a lifelong resident of Devils Lake spent most of his time seeking a way to control this lake and flooding it causes. “It is a slow-moving torture.” he said. Devils Lake with its nearly 7,000 residents is in constant threat. Since the water began r! ising in the early 1990s, more than 400 homes around the lake have been relocated or destroyed. While tourists are attracted by its 1,000 miles long shoreline and 75 feet deep and are enjoying excellent fishing or other recreational activities, residents are begging for help. Devils Lake which has nearly quadrupled in size since the early 1990s will probably grow on in next few years as scientists say there is no way to predict exactly when a normal weather cycle will return. By the end of 2010, more than $1 billion should be spend to ease the threat. As local officials say, the best would be to create a second flood-control channel and relaxing water-quality standards downstream which would allow releasing of more water. Working on the presumption that similar wet periods occurred in the Devils Lake many times during the past 2,000 years, building flood-control channel is the only possibility. But as Dick Johnson, mayor of Devils Lake said: “If they don’t do th! at, we are probably cooked.”

related story (sgx182 60): http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_monster_lake;_ylt=Ag1uRRDkBKiB...

by Barbora Misakova for Cantell TV (http://cantell.tv)

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