Projects & Studies
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Flood Risk Management Continuing Authority, Red River of the North: Wahpeton, N.D.
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Integrated Watershed Study: Minnesota River Basin in Minnesota, South Dakota, North Dakota and Iowa
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Lower St. Anthony Falls Rapids Restoration, Mississippi River, Minneapolis, Minn.
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Mississippi Headwaters Reservoirs Project Sites
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Mississippi Place, Mississippi River, St. Paul, Minn.
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Mississippi River Recreation and Environmental Stewardship, Eau Galle Dam
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Reconnaissance Study: Minnesota River Basin in MN, SD, IA and ND
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Recreational Boating Study of the Mississippi River, Pools 4 to 9, Summer 2003
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River Resource Values and Expectation
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Western Flood Control Sites - Minnesota: Lake Traverse, Orwell Lake, Hwy 75 - Bigstone, Lac qui Parle
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Western Flood Control Sites – North Dakota: Lake Ashtabula, Homme Lake Souris River
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Devils Lake Basin, North Dakota
Location/Description
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Devils Lake is in northeastern North Dakota. Throughout the 1990s, the lake level has risen drastically, inundating much of the surrounding area and having an impact on the region's surface transportation facilities.
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Background
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In some areas, roads are being used to provide barriers to the rising and expanding waters of Devils Lake. Because the Roads Serving as Water Barriers were not constructed to function as dams, they are a potential safety problem to road users and to people living in the areas sheltered by the barriers. Many of these roads are within the Fort Totten Indian Reservation.
The Federal Highway Administration will not allow the use of federal highway funds for any future work on those highway segments serving as water barriers unless their safety can be certified.
The Corps of Engineers cannot verify the safety of the existing roads without major modifications that would likely include additional embankment and methods for controlling seepage on the dry side of the existing road. Raising the segments of road without first stabilizing them would create an unacceptably high probability that one or more of them would ultimately fail and cause major damage to inland properties. If these roads are not raised, they will eventually be overtopped if lake levels continue to rise.
The language of the fiscal year 2006 Transportation Bill identifies the Federal Highway Administration as the lead agency responsible for addressing this problem. The Corps of Engineers will participate on an interagency group to develop a technical design that will accommodate surface transportation and provide a water barrier.
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Status
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The Corps has participated in a task force with other state and federal agencies since 1999. A technical committee was formed to look at possible solutions to the roads serving as water barriers situation without restraint from funding, policy, or legal impediments.
The committee met in December 2004 and recommended a technical alternative. The 2006 Transportation Bill authorizes the Federal Highway Administration to pursue implementation of the recommendations.
The Corps is committed to working with the state of North Dakota to determine a solution for the Roads Serving as Water Barriers. Data necessary to evaluate the existing roads and identify the risk of road failure were gathered during winter and spring 2005 (phase 1). The analysis of the existing roads began in September 2005 (phase 2). The Corps is continuing to work with the state and Federal Highway Administration to design the reaches of the line of protection with the highest priority.
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Authority
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The Corps participated on the task force under the hazard mitigation authority of Public Law 84-99. Assistance to the state was provided under the Advance Measures Program authority of Public Law 84-99. Support to the Federal Highway Administration is provided under The Economy Act (31 U.S.C. 1535).
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Related Issues
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The temporary emergency levees that are part of the overall line of protection do not provide the same level of protection as the existing Roads Serving as Water Barriers. These levees will need to be raised as part of the Roads Serving as Water Barriers solution and would most likely be the component in the line of protection that would fail first if water were to rise to the top of road elevation.
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Fiscal
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Funding is provided under SEC. 1937. ROADS IN CLOSED BASINS of the SAFE, ACCOUNTABLE, FLEXIBLE, EFFICIENT TRANSPORTATION EQUITY ACT: A LEGACY FOR USERS (SAFETEA-LU) Transportation Bill. It allows $70 million for this effort, not to exceed $10 million in any fiscal year.
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[Printable Copy]
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