Rice Lake Issues Addressed - KXNet - Bismarck/Minot/Williston/Dickinson

Rice Lake Issues Addressed

Rice Lake residents continue to battle high water --- and outlets seem to be growing slim.
Rice Lake board chairman Bob Hargrave says means are limited at this point.

He says Rice Lake is buying time, waiting for a response from the State Water Commission on the possibility of a permanent pipeline.
The State Water Commission needs clearance from the Ward County Water Resource Board before moving forward.
Ward County met today to approve the application for emergency dike construction and addressed two drainage complaints from land owners near Rice Lake.

(John Pietsch, Ward County Water Resource Board) "If you permanently damage the land as a result of all the salts that are left, how do you determine that? That's hard to do. It takes parties that are willing to sit down and really negotiate on a good faith effort."

With the three items of business taken care of, the State Water Commission will be able to move forward on pipeline plans.
Hargrave says pumps are NOT currently running at Rice Lake.
The board is out of money to run the temporary pump, and even if they could,

the storage field the lake has been pumped into is nearing capacity.