August 2021

MANITOBA BY THE NUMBERS Winnipeg

C A N A D A DEVILS LAKE U N I T E D S T A T E S

DEVILS LAKE BASIN Devils Devils Lake basin is a Lake East Grand Forks Grand Forks

NORTH DAKOTA

Moorhead Fargo 3,840Sq. Mi. Sub-Basin Red River LOCATION OF of the North of the . At current THE DEVILS LAKE BASIN WITHIN THE water levels, the lake itself has no natural RED RIVER BASIN outlet.

SOUTH DAKOTA At an elevation of

WATER SURFACE ELEVATION, DEVILS LAKE,

1,446.5 Feet Devils Lake began spilling naturally into June 2011 Stump Lake. The Lakes have been equalized Peak Elevation of since 2007. 1,454.3 Feet

1940 Lake Elevation of 1,401 Feet DEVILS LAKE ELEVATION* LAKE DEVILS

Rose Over Feet 31.68 *All elevations referenced in this document are given in NGVD 29. from its lowest 1993 elevation to its June 2011 record elevation. Since glaciation, Devils Lake has been fluctuating from overflowing to dry. This variability is the normal condition of the At Elevation lake – reflecting climate patterns.

1,458.0 Feet A natural surface water connection from the northeast edge of the Devils Lake basin boundary to the Red River basin has been Devils Lake naturally overflows into the documented during several years since 1997. This is significant Sheyenne River. The Sheyenne River is a because it has provided a natural route for biota exchange tributary of the Red River of the North, between Devils Lake and the rest of the Hudson Bay watershed. which flows into Canada. At a spill elevation of DEVILS LAKE SPILL LEVEL CHART Feet Period of Historic Record 1,458.0 OVERFLOW TO SHEYENNE RIVER Devils Lake has overflowed into the Sheyenne 1450 and Red Rivers at least twice during the past 4,000 OVERFLOW TO STUMP LAKE years. The last Devils Lake spill into the Sheyenne River occurred less than 2,000 years ago. ? ? 1425 ? At its spill elevation, ? the lake would cover more than. 1400 DRY DRY DRY DRY DRY 4000 3000 2000 1000 0 261,000 Acres YEARS BEFORE PRESENT

TIMELINE FACTS

Devils Lake rose 31.68 feet.

1993 2005 2009

Devils Lake falls to an elevation of The State of North Dakota Record spring inflows caused 1422.62 feet (covering 44,230 acres) - completed construction of an a lake rise of over 3.5 feet, prompting concerns about low water outlet from the west end of Devils prompting the state to prioritize levels. As the summer goes on, the Lake to the Sheyenne River. outlet capacity increases. basin begins to receive tremendous amounts of moisture.

An increase of 167,070 inundated acres, or about 261 square miles. During that same time period, the volume of water in Devils Lake had grown by more than seven times. Outlet-related information can be referenced from the Devils Lake section of the Department of Water Resources website at www.DWR.nd.gov (click on Basins).

Original 100 cfs outlet construction in 2005 OUTLETS expanded in 2010 to 1,445 Feet WEST END Minimum Intake Elevation cfs

cfs 250 600Cubic Feet Per Second (cfs) Combined discharge capacity In 2012, a new outlet was constructed with

1,446 Feet EAST END 350 cfs Minimum Intake Elevation maximum capacity

Management: Outlet operation recommendations are discussed annually by a 17 member stakeholder committee. Outlet discharge occurs during the ice-free months and operation is constrained by downstream water quality and quantity limitations.

The control structure allows natural erosion The control structure was constructed of the divide between Stump Lake & Tolna by the U.S. Army Corps, but is owned Coulee, while protecting downstream areas and operated by the North Dakota from an uncontrolled release of Devils Lake Department of Water Resources. floodwater. TOLNA COULEE TOLNA

2011 2012 2014 2020

June 2011 record During the summer, the state After many years of Cumulative outlet elevation of 1454.3 completed an outlet from East Devils construction, the levee discharge exceeded feet. Lake. This outlet has a maximum protecting the City 1.3 million acre-feet, operating capacity of 350 cfs. of Devils Lake was contributing to completed, protecting gradual relief of the the city from future historic flooding. lake level rises. In June 2011, Devils In addition to the outlets, the Corps Lake covered about of Engineers constructed a control 211,300 acres. structure at Tolna Coulee as an added level of protection from a natural uncontrolled overflow. In May, the control structure was completed & ready for operation. OUTLET DISCHARGES FROM 2007-2020

2007 298 East Outlet 2008 1,241 West Outlet 2009 27,653 2010 62,977 2011 46,911 2012 85,196 72,346 2013 48,912 92,870 2014 68,548 97,288 2015 83,565 87,670 Year Of OutletYear Operation 2016 77,535 58,560 2017 79,102 52,770 2018 77,665 40,692 2019 45,185 15,944 2020 56,544 25,542 050k 100k 150k 200k Volume Discharge (acre-feet)

Devils Lake at Various Elevations NGVD 1929 Elevation 1460 City of Devils Lake Elevation 1450 (2009)

Elevation 1423 (1993)

Elevation 1400 (1940) Main Bay Record Low DEVILS West LAKE Bay East Bay Jerusalem Channel West End East Outlet DL Control Structure Stump East DL Outlet Lake

Sheyenne Tolna River Coulee

(701) 328.2750 900 EAST BOULEVARD AVE., DEPT 770 | BISMARCK, ND 58505 www.dwr.nd.gov