At the first of 20 public forums to be held in both states, the Red River Basin Commission generated input on water issues that will later be compiled into a final report sent to state legislators. North Dakota and Minnesota pitched in $500,000 each during the last legislative session for the Red River Valley study.
All of the meetings should be finished by Thanksgiving, and the report will be sent to legislators by Jan. 1, said Tom Richels, Wilkin County highway engineer.
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About 40 attendees raised problems that have become a familiar mantra to Wilkin County residents, such as the necessity of ring dikes to manage excess water on farmsteads. Nearly 500 sites in Wilkin County were damaged after this year’s flood.
Some residents have also experienced wetlands covering up their farmland. Richels said a U.S. wetlands specialist told the crowd no storage is left in the sloughs.
"[They're] all beyond their maximum and the wetlands around the country are beyond full," he said.
Unlike the repeated flood issues in Wilkin County, Hankinson Mayor Joe O'Meara said the "constantly high" water table in Richland County irritates the city's infrastructure and drowns resident basements. To prevent seepage, at least 25 residents own dewatering wells that pump out water into the street. They started using the quick-save method more than a decade ago, O'Meara said.
"Can you imagine what kind of problem you're going to have? The water chews up the pavement, wrecks the curbs," he said. "When it gets cold, it's a safety issue."
To solve some of these issues, residents suggested adding another dam three miles downstream of South Dakota's White Rock Dam and creating more ring dikes for flooded farmsteads. But appropriate financing, bureaucracy and lack of expediency tend to blockade these ideas.
"We cannot wait five or 10 years to find a solution," said Richels. "We've got to get going on things now."
O'Meara echoed the sentiment. In Hankinson, the city will soon be installing storm sewers to offset the pressure on the lagoon system.
"They have to come up with some master plan for something, because the status quo doesn't seem to be getting the job done anymore," he said.
Residents can participate in an online survey by the Red River Basin Commission by logging on to: www.redriverbasincommission.org.
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