Devils Lake primed to gain several feet of water this spring

DEVILS LAKE, N.D. (AP) - A wet summer and fall, along with high winter snowpack, has Devils Lake primed to gain several feet of water this spring, a manager of the Devils Lake Basin Joint Water Resource Board says.

Conditions are ripe for significant flooding of farmland, Jeff Frith told the Devils Lake Journal (https://bit.ly/2lqJGI5).

“According to the weather service, we could have record or near-record runoff,” Frith said.

Data provided by Greg Gust of the National Weather Service in Grand Forks showed the possibility of Devils Lake rising by 3 to 4 feet with warmer weather and more precipitation.

The weather service report says what’s left of winter looks to be both colder and wetter than average. It also states that soil moisture is higher than normal, affecting its ability to absorb the large amount of runoff that warmer temperatures will bring.

“The threat for significant, impactful, snowmelt flooding is very high for the Devils Lake Basin,” the report says.

A levee system has removed the threat of property damage for residents, making the biggest concern the possibility for lost agricultural acreage, said Frith.

“With every rise and fall of the lake, every foot equals 10,000 acres,” Frith said. “So when you’re talking 3 to 4 feet, it (takes) about 30,000 to 40,000 acres back underneath the lake.”

The weather service predicts Devils Lake will rise rapidly from the end of April to the first week of May.

“We could see a half-foot rise a week,” Frith said.

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Information from: Devils Lake Journal, https://www.devilslakejournal.com