they want to take Lake of the Woods water for Fargo (in a drought)

[MnFats]

that's ridiculous, isn't it? Isn't it? C;mon, tell me it's ridiculous...

http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/14086533.htm

By DENNIS LIEN
St. Paul Pioneer Press

WARROAD, Minn. (AP) -- Folks in the Red River Valley haven't had to dwell on droughts much lately. Not with more than a decade of above-average precipitation, as well as the 1997 flood at Grand Forks.

But the federal Bureau of Reclamation knows there'll be another one, and is looking for ways now to line up more water, including piping it from Lake of the Woods, the storied walleye fishery on the Minnesota-Canada border.

The agency, an arm of the Department of the Interior, recently identified seven ways to replenish water supplies in cities along the Red River if they get hit with another 1930s-type drought. One of them is to build an underground pipeline from the lake west to the river and south all the way to Wahpeton, N.D.

That water, along with well water, would enable growing cities such as Grand Forks, Fargo and Moorhead to get by in emergencies. They rely largely on the Red River and its tributaries, but the bureau said that dependency could leave them with only half the water they need during the worst month of a severe drought.

Reaction near Lake of the Woods is mixed.

"We live here, but it's not 100 percent our water," said Steve Arnesen, whose family has owned Arnesen's Rocky Point Resort on Lake of the Woods since 1897. "If, in time of need, they need water, they need water."

Warroad Mayor Bob Marvin, however, called the idea ridiculous.

"There must be a better solution somewhere," he said.

"The whole concept of taking water from Lake of the Woods just doesn't sit well with some folks," said Dean Karsky, a civil engineer with the bureau's Bismarck office. "They say, 'That's a special area. Why would you want to go in there?'

[dflprincess]

1. Does Canada have any say in this plan

or is Lake of the Woods completely within U.S. boundries? (I should know that, shouldn't I?)

[MnFats]

5. it is a border lake. you'd think Canada would have an interest..

[dpbrown]

2. What about that lake that keeps getting bigger in the Dakotas somewhere?

Seems like killing two birds with one stone, so to speak.

[dpbrown]

3. Devils Lake, northeastern North Dakota

http://www.mvp.usace.army.mil/fl_damage_reduct/default.asp?pageid=1077

It keeps getting bigger and is inundating the surrounding land, flooding it permanently.

[CatholicEdHead]

4. Too salty for many uses

[Sorwen]

6. The primary plan for a long time has been

to pump water from the Missouri River east to the Red River as part of the Garrison Diversion project. This is an expensive project that began a long time ago but has never been completed due to lack of funding and support. Water could be pumped from the Missouri to the Sheyenne River, which flows into the Red River.

As for Devils Lake, an outlet was just built last year that sends water from the lake to the Sheyenne River. This is not a good source of water, though. Besides being of poor quality, the water level in Devils Lake could be substantially lower in times of drought, so it would not be a reliable source of water. The original plan for Garrison Diversion was to actually pump water into Devils Lake because the water level was so low.

The Canadians are pretty strongly against any water coming from either the Missouri River or Devils Lake into Canada and eventually Hudson Bay via the Red River. The concern is about bringing foreign species from the Missouri River to Lake Winnipeg and Hudson Bay.

[Zookeeper]

7. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, NO! Let me add....

NO! (And then I'll tell you how I really feel...NO!)

This would set a HORRIBLE precendent for the upper Midwest! There are any number of states, corporations and even other countries, who would love to gain the right to use and divert water from the Great Lakes! This issue was addressed a few years ago, and the decision was made that diversion of the Great Lakes would require the agreement of the eight (I think) Governors and their Canadian counterpart of the states bordering the lakes and Ontario.

However, I have read that NAFTA could technically override that agreement. And when it comes down to it, the Federal government claims ownership of the water resources of the Great Lakes. All it will take is a few years of very severe drought in other parts of the country before we start hearing the "bright" idea of diverting all the "extra" water we have up here.

[Zookeeper]

8. 'Just found this link posted in another forum.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060317/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/mexico_world_water_forum_5

People are fighting and dying over water in Mexico right now.

[Odin2005]

9. We've got a source of water running through town...

Why the hell would we have to get water from the Lake of the Woods? You'd think the drought would have to be apocolyptic for the Red to dry up.