HOEVEN PUSHING TO RESTORE WATER IN LAKE AUDUBON

Bureau of Reclamation To Begin Raising Levels This Weekend

BISMARCK, N.D. – Gov. John Hoeven today announced that the Army Corps of Engineers will begin to restore water in Lake Audubon to its historic level as early as today. The state, including the North Dakota Game and Fish Department, N.D. Department of Transportation, and the State Water Commission, has been working with the Corps to accomplish the action as soon as possible.

The Corps is expected to lift restrictions later today, enabling the Bureau of Reclamation to restore four feet of water to Lake Audubon, bringing the level back to 1847 feet.

Hoeven has been urging the Corps to raise water levels on the lakes to their historic levels. Last fall, Corps officials announced a plan to lower water levels on Lake Audubon to balance pressure on the Highway 83 causeway that runs between Lakes Audubon and Sakakawea. The Governor disputed the move with U.S. Assistant Sec. Paul Woodley and Col. David Press, the Corps' Omaha District Commander, saying the approach was backward. The Corps could accomplish the same thing by maintaining the water level on Lake Audubon and raising the water level on Lake Sakakawea.

After Hoeven and others objected to the plan to drop the level because of its impact on access and lake habitat, the Corps installed piezometers, devices to monitor water pressure on the embankment because of the differential between the two bodies of water. They installed pressure relieving wells. The Bureau of Reclamation, which operates the pumping system for the lake, indicated Thursday that they will start to replenish the lake.

“It’s important that the Corps respect the economic and environmental importance of these lakes to our state,” Hoeven said. “We are pressing for more water in both Lake Sakakawea and Lake Oahe, and remain committed to restoring them to their historic levels.”

At a hearing next month in Bismarck, Hoeven will continue to press the Corps to implement more drought conservation measures and shorten the downstream navigation season. By reducing the season from eight to six months – the full period allowed by the Master Manual – the Corps will better manage all interests on the system and prevent counterproductive, ad hoc patches to its management plan, Hoeven said.