Firm to prepare budget for study to move water from Stutsman County (2024)

JAMESTOWN — The Stutsman County Commission and the Stutsman County Water Resource Board both unanimously approved a request to have Houston Engineering Inc. prepare a scope and budget for a feasibility study on how to move water from basins in western Stutsman County and Crystal Springs, according to Mark Klose, county commission chairman.

The county commission and Stutsman County Water Resource Board held a joint special meeting on Tuesday, July 23, to talk about the feasibility study and the funding for it.

The feasibility study will show the benefits of removing excess waters, how much of the 250-square-mile watershed is contributing to flooding, regulatory issues, alternative options to remove water and the cost to remove the excess water.

The idea for the feasibility study originated at a James River Basin meeting hosted by the State Water Commission in June. At the time, Stutsman County Commissioner Jerry Bergquist asked if the State Water Commission could re-look at the drainage map and consider areas that don’t drain.

“My complaint to the Water Commission was that your map is misleading,” he said. “It makes it hard for local governments to find money, legislative dollars possibly, to help fix roads and it doesn’t help from a FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) perspective because the maps look like all the water flows somewhere.”

Bergquist said Tuesday that the drainage map for the western part of Stutsman County shows water draining into the James or Missouri rivers.

“Anybody that lives here knows that’s not true,” he said. “It just sits there and our ponds and sloughs are now lakes.”

He said he was approached by Michael Gunsch, senior project manager with Houston Engineering, who told Bergquist the water level in Crystal Springs Lake will rise about 7 to 9 inches per year.

Bergquist said the study will help determine what the cost is to move water in three different directions. Stutsman County isn’t looking to move water from Crystal Springs just to the west. He said the county is looking to move water to other directions, including north to Wells County where Pipestem Creek and the James River originate. He said a third option is to go east from Crystal Lakes toward Pipestem Creek and the James River.

Gunsch told the two boards that there is an opportunity to get the Crystal Springs feasibility study on the 2025 water development plan project list. He said the feasibility study needs to get on the water development plan project list to avoid any cost-share funding delays.

The deadline is July 31 to edit or update information for the 2025 water development plan project list.

Gunsch said Houston Engineering is targeting a $200,000 budget for the feasibility study and there are two local cost-share options. He said the local cost share would be $110,000 for the 45% rural flood control option or $80,000 for the 60% flood control option.

The North Dakota Department of Water Resources director can approve a local cost-share request if it is $100,000 or less. The State Water Commission makes the decision to approve the cost-share request if it is more than $100,000.

With the next State Water Commission meeting scheduled for Oct. 10, Gunsch said the application deadline is Aug. 26 for the cost-share request of more than $100,000.

He said the goal would be to get the feasibility study completed before the 2025 legislative session.

The Crystal Springs watershed initiative includes solving issues of flooding caused by excess water in Crystal Springs. A letter from Houston Engineering to Klose and Stutsman County Water Resource Board member Joel Lees says, “Currently Crystal Springs Watershed Initiative (CSWI) flooding has reached a critical stage where developing a solution and securing funding to address issues needs to occur before damages become more significant and irreversible.”

Gunsch said rising water levels have caused Stink Lake near Medina to connect with Crystal Springs Lake and Reule Lake.

Gunsch said the grade on Interstate 94 near Crystal Springs has been raised a number of times. He said I-94 in that area was raised 6 feet the last time.

He said the top of BNSF Railway’s track is 2 feet above Crystal Springs Lake. He also said Crystal Springs Bible Camp has had to move a building because a basem*nt collapsed and the site has water from Crystal Springs Lake that is close to another dormitory.

County Commissioner Joan Morris said the Kidder County Commission is willing to support the feasibility study. She said Stutsman and Kidder counties have an opportunity to work together to move water outside of each county.

She said Stutsman County’s intention isn’t to just dump the water into Kidder County. She said the issue with the Crystal Springs watershed is not just a Stutsman County problem but a regional problem.

Morris said the county commission is looking at other funding sources to help alleviate the cost of the feasibility study whether that be grants or requesting funds from other entities that are affected by the rising water levels at Crystal Springs Lake.

Klose said if other entities aren’t willing to help pay for the feasibility study, he doesn’t see anyone helping with future project costs to move the water elsewhere.

Masaki Ova joined The Jamestown Sun in August 2021 as a reporter. He grew up on a farm near Pingree, N.D. He majored in communications at the University of Jamestown, N.D.