Post on 09-Jul-2018
LOCATION OF THE DEVILS LAKE
BASIN WITHIN THE RED RIVER BASIN
DEV
ILS
LAKE
LEV
EL IN
FEE
T A
BOVE
NAT
ION
AL
GEO
DET
IC V
ERTI
CA
L D
ATU
M O
F 19
29
*Surface areas above elevation 1446 feet include Devils Lake & Stump Lake combined.*All elevations given in NDGVD29
3,810Sq. Mi. Sub-Basin
of the Red River of the North. At current water levels, the lake itself has no natural outlet.
Devils Lake basin is a
Above Mean Sea Level (amsl)1,446.5 Fe
et(a
msl
)
Devils Lake naturally spills into Stump Lake.
At an elevation of
31.68Rose Over
Feet
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 lake – reflecting climate patterns.
A natural surface water connection from the northeast edge of the Devils Lake basin boundary to the Red River basin has been documented during several years since 1997. This is significant because it has provided a natural route for biota exchange between Devils Lake and the rest of the Hudson Bay watershed.
C A N A D A
U N I T E DS T A T E S
C A N A D A
U N I T E DS T A T E S
East GrandForks
GrandForks
Fargo
Moorhead
Winnipeg
LakeWinnipeg
MANITOBA
NORTHDAKOTA
SOUTHDAKOTA
MINNESOTARed Riverof the North
DEVILS LAKEBASIN
BY THE NUMBERSDE VILS L AKE JUNE 2018
WATER SURFACE ELEVATION, DEVILS LAKE, NORTH DAKOTA
(am
sl)1,458.0 Fe
et
Devils Lake naturally overflows into the Sheyenne River. The Sheyenne River is a tributary of the Red River of the North, which flows into Canada.
At Elevation
Devils Lake falls to an elevation of 1422.62 feet (covering 44,230 acres) - prompting concerns about low water levels. As the summer goes on, the basin begins to receive tremendous amounts of moisture.
In June 2011, Devils Lake covered about 211,300 acres.
June 2011 record elevation of 1454.3 feet.
Elevation of 1452.05 feet, June 27.
The State of North Dakota completed construction of an outlet from the west end of Devils Lake to the Sheyenne River.
1993 201120102005
Devils Lake rose 31.68 feet.
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.
Timeline Facts
1450
1425
1400
?
4000 3000 2000 1000 0 YEARS BEFORE PRESENT
?
?
DRY DRY DRY DRY DRY
?OVERFLOW TO STUMP LAKE
OVERFLOW TO SHEYENNE RIVER Period of Historic Record
DEVILS LAKE SPILL LEVEL CHART
1,458.0
261,000
Feet
Acre
s
Devils Lake has overflowed into the Sheyenne and Red Rivers at least twice during the past 4,000 years. The last Devils Lake spill into the Sheyenne River occurred less than 2,000 years ago.
At its spill elevation, the lake will cover more than.
At a spill elevation of
(am
sl)
Af ter many years of construction, the levee prote c t ing the Cit y o f D ev i ls L ake w as completed, protecting the city from future lake level rises.
Thirteen years after completion of the West Devils Lake Outlet in 2005, and seven years after the East Devils Lake Outlet was completed in 2012, both projects combined have removed more than one million acre-feet of floodwater from Devils Lake.
In addition to the outlets, the Corps of Engineers constructed a control 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.
During the summer, the state also completed an outlet from East Devils Lake. This outlet has a maximum operating capacity of 350 cfs.
2014 20172012
10250
350W
est E
ndOutlets
East
End
The control structure allows natural erosion of the divide between Stump Lake & Tolna Coulee, while protecting downstream areas from an uncontrolled release of Devils Lake floodwater.
The control structure was constructed by the U.S. Army Corps., but is owned and operated by the North Dakota State Water Commission.To
lna
Coul
ee600
Mile
s
cfs
cfs
cfs Open channel
Of 96-inch pipe conveyance, & an outfall structure. Maximum capacity
In 2012, a new outletwas constructed with
Combined operating capacity of the West & East
4 miles of pipelineOriginal 100 cfs outlet construction in 2005expanded in 2010 to
Outlet-related information can be referenced from theDevils Lake section of the State Water Commission website at www.swc.nd.gov (click on Basins).
512 M
iles
Cubic Feet Per Second (cfs)
NOTE: Outlet Operations are planned and discussed annually by an advisory committee consisting of both upstream and downstream representatives. Discharge operations occur during the ice-free period of the year and are constrained by water quality and quantity restrictions in the downstream receiving waters.
Main BayDEVILSLAKE East
Bay
WestBay
East DL
StumpLake
SheyenneRiver
West EndOutlet
TolnaCoulee
East DL Outlet
Control Structure
JerusalemChannel
City ofDevils Lake
ND State Water Commission900 East Boulevard AveBismarck, ND 58505-0850
(701) 328-2750
Scan to learn more about Devils Lake
This fact sheet & other Devils Lake information is available on the State Water Commission website at www.swc.nd.gov.
2017
0 50,000 100,000 150,000 200,000
2016
2015
2014
2013
2012
2011
2010
2009
2008
72,34685,196
46,911
62,977
27,653
1,241
92,87148,913
97,28868,548
87,67083,565
58,560
52,770
77,536
79,102
Volume Discharge (acre-feet)
Year
Of O
utle
t Ope
ratio
n
East OutletWest Outlet
Total of1,043,361 ac-ftas of 11/2017
OUTLET DISCHARGES FROM 2007-2017
Devils Lake at Various Elevations
Elevation 1460
Elevation 1450 (2009)
Elevation 1423 (1993)
Elevation 1400 (1940)Record Low
NGVD 1929