Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883
Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883
Garrison Diversion Conservancy District has prevailed in a lawsuit filed by the State of Missouri relating to the use of Missouri River water.
A Missouri Federal District Court Judge issued the Order in favor of the Garrison Diversion Conservancy District on Aug. 26, ending the State of Missouri’s attempt to stop the Central North Dakota Water Supply Project, which would deliver Missouri River water to potential municipal, rural, and industrial (MR&I) users in the central North Dakota region.
The Central N.D. project is a proposed water service contract between the North Dakota Garrison Diversion Conservancy District (Garrison Diversion) and the Bureau of Reclamation. That contract is reliant upon the construction of a six-mile pipeline that would deliver water from the McClusky Canal to the Red River Valley Water Supply Project. Waters that run through the McClusky Canal originate from Lake Audubon, which is connected to, and comprised of, Missouri River water.
According to Garrison Diversion, the Central North Dakota project is a cost-saving option for the Red River Valley Water Supply Project, a state and local water supply project that will bring Missouri River water through a buried pipeline to central and eastern North Dakota communities.
Missouri challenged the Bureau of Reclamation’s environmental review of the McClusky Canal cost-saving option. The lawsuit alleged that North Dakota and the Bureau of Reclamation failed to conduct a proper analysis of the impact of the project and falsely determined that the project would not pose significant impacts on existing water needs and uses. Nearly 2.5 million people, or roughly 40% of Missouri’s population are served directly or indirectly by the Missouri River.
The Court found the environmental review to be appropriately completed, granting Garrison Diversion’s motion for summary judgment.
“Allowing the use of the McClusky Canal to provide water for central North Dakota is a win for the state. It enables us to put to beneficial use a federal facility that has been largely underutilized since its construction,” says Duane DeKrey, General Manager of Garrison Diversion.
U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND), a Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee member, issued the following statement in response to the court’s decision:
“Missouri’s lawsuit was without merit and would have significantly and unnecessarily interrupted North Dakota’s water supply efforts in the middle of a serious drought. I am glad it was thrown out and look forward to working with the Bureau of Reclamation and relevant local agencies to advance all of the important North Dakota projects to utilize Missouri River water without the threat of needless litigation.”
The contract between the Central N.D. Project and Garrison Diversion entails building and maintaining an intake in the McClusky Canal, wet well, pump station, and approximately 0.10 miles of the aforementioned pipeline. That intake will divert 15,000 acre-feet per year or twenty cubic feet per second of water from the Missouri River, likely for industrial use for North Dakota counties.
