News Release
(December 12, 2016) Upon its completion, roughly half of the population of the State of North Dakota will benefit from the Red River Valley Water Supply Project (RRVWSP). The RRVWSP is a plan to safeguard water for North Dakota communities and rural water districts in times of drought, as well as promote industrial development. As of the mid-November deadline, 35 cities and water districts are committed to help fund the development portion of the project which includes conceptual engineering, phased preliminary engineering, and financial modeling.
The RRVWSP will use a buried water pipeline to carry water from the Missouri River near the Washburn, ND area along Highway 200 to the Baldhill Creek or Sheyenne River which will provide a supplemental water supply to users in central and eastern North Dakota.
Throughout 2016, staff and board members from the Garrison Diversion Conservancy District (Garrison Diversion) and the Lake Agassiz Water Authority (LAWA) held informational meetings with communities and water districts in central and eastern North Dakota that could benefit from the project.
“With the unprecedented commitments received to date, the pipeline will need to be designed to carry a minimum of 159.23 cubic feet of water per second. That’s the equivalent of 103 million gallons of water per day that needs to be available to the water districts and cities that signed up, to stave off the effects of a serious drought. A drought like the one North Dakota experienced in the 1930s would have a devastating impact on the state’s industries and communities. The RRVWSP will protect North Dakota from that possibility,” says Ken Vein, Garrison Diversion Board Chairman.
The 35 communities and water districts that have provided initial commitment to the project include the Cities of Carrington, Cooperstown, Devils Lake, East Grand Forks, Fargo which includes service to West Fargo, Forman, Grafton, Grand Forks, Hannaford, Hillsboro, Langdon, Larimore, Lisbon, Mayville, McVille, Park River, Tuttle, Valley City, and Wahpeton; as well as the Agassiz Water Users District, Barnes Rural Water District, Cass Rural Water Users District, Central Plains Water District, Dakota Rural Water District, Grand Forks-Traill Water District, Greater Ramsey Water District, McLean-Sheridan Rural Water, Northeast Regional Water District, Richland County Job Development Authority, South Central Regional Water District, Southeast Water Users District, Stutsman Rural Water District/Jamestown, Traill Rural Water Users, Inc., Tri-County Rural Water District, and Walsh Rural Water District.