Flooding in North Dakota, September 1 to 30, 1999

After peaking at 1444.77 feet MSL in 1998, the 1999 Devils Lake lake level rose roughly another 2 feet and fluctuated around 1447.00 feet MSL . This presented more challenges and problems to the people surrounding the lake. For the town of Churchs Ferry, which is located on the Mauvis Coulee inlet to Devils Lake, people had to decide about the fate of the entire community. Floodwaters threatened to overtake the town, or most importantly, the sewers and sewage lagoons. After some meetings, the town decided to pursue a community-wide buyout plan. This will affect all 113 people in Churchs Ferry. The town of Minnewaukan, with 401 residents, was also facing some major decisions due to the rising lake. Basements and sewer lines were heaving from the high groundwater table. The town decided to hire an outside consultant to determine the status of the sewer system. For the city of Devils Lake, with a population of 7782, a dike on the south side of the city was completed. Like most of the people across the basin, they continued to hope for a longer term solution to the flooding problem, which would involve an outlet to the lake. Since Devils Lake is a closed basin, in order to control the level of the lake, a man made outlet would need to be made. The US Army Corps of Engineers finally decided to go ahead with the outlet plan using emergency funds. However, it will be several years before this is completed. In the meantime, the 3 state parks on the lake continue to suffer from the high levels of the lake. Many boat access points and campsites are under water. Many roads have been closed and others are under constant construction. One of the lone bright spots has been the sport of fishing, which is booming under the new habitat and lake space. The waterfowl populations surrounding the lake are also at all time record highs.