Devils Lake is a

lake A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from ...

in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

North Dakota North Dakota ( ) is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the indigenous Dakota people, Dakota and Sioux peoples. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north and by the U.S. states of Minneso ...

. It is the largest natural body of water and the second-largest body of water in North Dakota after Lake Sakakawea. It can reach a level of before naturally flowing into the Sheyenne River via the Tolna Coulee. On June 27, 2011, it reached an unofficial historical high elevation of . The cities of Devils Lake and Minnewaukan take their name from the lake as does the

Spirit Lake Reservation The Spirit Lake Tribe (in Santee Dakota, Santee Dakota language, Dakota: ''Mniwakaƞ Oyate'', also spelt as ''Mni Wakan Oyate'', formerly known as Devils Lake Sioux Tribe) is a federally recognized tribe based on the Spirit Lake Dakota Indian res ...

, which is located on the lake's southern shores.

History

The present site of Devils Lake is historically territory of the

Dakota people The Dakota (pronounced , or ) are a Native Americans in the United States, Native American tribe (Native American), tribe and First Nations in Canada, First Nations band government in North America. They compose two of the three main subcultur ...

. The Sisseton, Wahpeton, and Cut-Head bands of Dakotas were relocated to the Spirit Lake Reservation as a result of the 1867 treaty with the United States that established a reservation for Dakotas who had not been forcibly relocated to Crow Creek Reservation in what is now called South Dakota. The name "Devils Lake" is a

calque In linguistics, a calque () or loan translation is a word or phrase borrowed from another language by literal word-for-word or root-for-root translation. When used as a verb, "to calque" means to borrow a word or phrase from another language ...

of the Dakota words ''mni'' (water) ''wak'áŋ'' (literally "pure source", also translated as "spirit" or "sacred"). The Dakota consider it holy because they believe it is the home of the underwater serpent Unktehi. The Dakota name is reflected in the name of the Spirit Lake Tribe and the nearby town of Minnewaukan. European-American settlers mistranslated the name to mean "Bad Spirit Lake", or "Devils Lake". The "bad" referred to the high

salinity Salinity () is the saltiness or amount of salt (chemistry), salt dissolved in a body of water, called saline water (see also soil salinity). It is usually measured in g/L or g/kg (grams of salt per liter/kilogram of water; the latter is dimensio ...

of the lake, making it unfit to drink, and "spirit" meant the

mirage A mirage is a naturally-occurring optical phenomenon in which light rays bend via refraction to produce a displaced image of distant objects or the sky. The word comes to English via the French ''(se) mirer'', from the Latin ''mirari'', mean ...

s often seen across the water. The Christian concept of the

devil A devil is the mythical personification of evil as it is conceived in various cultures and religious traditions. It is seen as the objectification of a hostile and destructive force. Jeffrey Burton Russell states that the different conce ...

is not present in Dakota philosophy. The

Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation The Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation (MHA Nation), also known as the Three Affiliated Tribes (Mandan language, Mandan: ''Miiti Naamni''; Hidatsa language, Hidatsa: ''Awadi Aguraawi''; Arikara language, Arikara: ''ačitaanu' táWIt''), is a fede ...

s also accessed the lake, and the

Arikara The Arikara ( ), also known as Sahnish,
''Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation.'' (Retrieved Sep 29, 2011) ...

name for it is ''čiwahaahwaarúxti'' and the

Hidatsa The Hidatsa ( ) are a Siouan people. They are enrolled in the federally recognized Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Reservation in North Dakota. Their language is related to that of the Crow, and they are sometimes considered a pa ...

name is ''mirixubaash'' (" sacred water").

Geography

Devils Lake is located in Ramsey County and Benson County in northeastern North Dakota. The

Spirit Lake Tribe The Spirit Lake Tribe (in Santee Dakota: ''Mniwakaƞ Oyate'', also spelt as ''Mni Wakan Oyate'', formerly known as Devils Lake Sioux Tribe) is a federally recognized tribe based on the Spirit Lake Dakota Reservation located in east-central Nor ...

occupies most of the southern shore and has been adversely affected by flooding since the 1990s.

Hydrology

Devils Lake is the

endorheic An endorheic basin ( ; also endoreic basin and endorreic basin) is a drainage basin that normally retains water and allows no outflow to other external bodies of water (e.g. rivers and oceans); instead, the water drainage flows into permanent ...

, or closed, lake of a

drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land in which all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, ...

of some , the Devils Lake Basin. The lake collects around 86 percent of the basin's water runoff.Devils Lake Basin Joint Water Resource Board. North Dakota State Water Commission. 2006.
2006 Devils Lake Basin Water Management Plan
.'' Above an elevation of

AMSL Height above mean sea level is a measure of a location's vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) in reference to a vertical datum based on a historic mean sea level. In geodesy, it is formalized as orthometric height. The zero level v ...

, the lake spills into neighboring Stump Lake. At , the combined lake flows naturally into the Sheyenne River, though the lake has not reached this level in approximately 1,000 years. The Sheyenne River is a tributary to the Red River, which flows into Canada, with eventual exit into the

Hudson Bay Hudson Bay, sometimes called Hudson's Bay (usually historically), is a large body of Saline water, saltwater in northeastern Canada with a surface area of . It is located north of Ontario, west of Quebec, northeast of Manitoba, and southeast o ...

. Dike protection is set at . Under normal conditions, Devils Lake is shallow, saline, and hypereutrophic (very high in nutrients). During periods of excessive precipitation, however, the lake can be up to deep, eutrophic (rich in minerals, nutrients, and organisms), with decreased salinity due to dilution.

Salinity

Because Devils Lake is endorheic, the lake tends to be much higher in salinity than the lakes with outlets to river systems. This is similar to the

Great Salt Lake The Great Salt Lake is the largest saltwater lake in the Western Hemisphere and the eighth-largest terminal lake in the world. It lies in the northern part of the U.S. state of Utah and has a substantial impact upon the local climate, partic ...

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

.Rosenberg, Sheryl A. 2000. "A Canadian Perspective on the Devils Lake Outlet: Towards an Environmental Assessment Model for the Management of Transboundary Disputes." ''North Dakota Law Review'' 76: 817–59. Lower water levels increase salinity, threatening fish and wildlife. Salinity levels in the lake have been one prominent aspect of the debate over diversion of lake water into the Sheyenne River, with questions of the potential environmental impact of the diverted water on downstream rivers, lakes, and communities.

Flooding

Devils Lake is well known for its wide variations in lake levels, with large swings between low and high water levels. This owes in large part to its nature as a closed-basin lake, lacking a natural outlet. The release of water is dependent upon evaporation and seepage. The low, flat terrain around Devils Lake consists of various coulees, channels, and

basins Basin may refer to: Geography and geology * Depression (geology) ** Back-arc basin, a submarine feature associated with island arcs and subduction zones ** Debris basin, designed to prevent damage from debris flow ** Drainage basin (hydrology), ...

, which may be separated during times of low water, or connected during high water. Thus the boundaries of the lake can vary greatly from year to year, depending on the amount of precipitation. The draining of wetlands to develop agricultural land in the area has aggravated flooding at Devils Lake. Drainage of the basin's

wetlands A wetland is a distinct semi-aquatic ecosystem whose groundcovers are flooded or saturated in water, either permanently, for years or decades, or only seasonally. Flooding results in oxygen-poor ( anoxic) processes taking place, especially ...

and conversion of the basin's native

prairie Prairies are ecosystems considered part of the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome by ecologists, based on similar temperate climates, moderate rainfall, and a composition of grasses, herbs, and shrubs, rather than trees, as the ...

to cropland has resulted in water moving more rapidly into the lake, increasing water levels.Bryn, Eric M. 1996. "Through a Biodiversity Looking-Glass: An Analysis of the Devils Lake Water Management Plan." ''Great Plains Natural Resources Journal'' 1: 65–96. In addition, the diversion of natural water flows is also considered to have contributed to the flooding. An increase in precipitation between 1993 and 1999 caused the lake to double in size, forcing the displacement of more than 300 homes and flooding of farmland. The

, whose reservation is along part of the lake, suffered considerable damage to homes and lands. Attempts to mitigate the flooding have reportedly cost

and the U.S. government more than $450 million. Efforts to control flooding include artificial outlets, dike construction and moving railroad lines, roads, and power lines."Devils Lake Basin in North Dakota." United States Geological Survey Water Science Center. http://nd.water.usgs.gov/devilslake/index.html . Future climate as projected by 17 different global climate models indicates overall increase in both precipitation and temperature in the Devils Lake region leading to the lake's overspill probability (24–47% without the outlet and 3.5–14.4% with the full capacity outlet) into the nearby Sheyenne River.Kharel, G. & Kirilenko, A. 2018. "Comparing CMIP-3 and CMIP-5 climate projections on flooding estimation of Devils Lake of North Dakota, USA," ''PeerJ'' https://peerj.com/articles/4711/?td=wk. In response to the flooding, the

U.S. Congress The United States Congress is the legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a bicameral legislature, including a lower body, the U.S. House of Representatives, and an upper body, the U.S. Senate. They both ...

directed the Army Corps of Engineers to research construction of an outlet in 1997 to control the lake level through methods other than evaporation or natural overflow. The Corps' design included mechanisms for filtration and monitoring of the water, and was estimated to cost $186.5 million.Brouwer, Greg. 2003. "Corps Approves Devils Lake Diversion," ''Civil Engineering'': 18–19. The state of

objected to the cost and certain water quality provisions of the plan, and declined to participate in construction of the Corps' outlet. In 2003, the state constructed its own outlet to divert water from Devils Lake into the Sheyenne River, at a cost of $28 million. The outlet was completed in 2005, but was not operated in 2006 due to water quality and biota issues. The National Weather Service is the official federal government agency responsible for observing and predicting water levels at Devils Lake.National Weather Service hydrograph for Devils Lake: http://www.crh.noaa.gov/ahps2/hydrograph.php?wfo=fgf&gage=dcbn8&view=1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1

Recreation

Devils Lake has been known for a long time for

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment (Freshwater ecosystem, freshwater or Marine ecosystem, marine), but may also be caught from Fish stocking, stocked Body of water, ...

and other watersports. It has been named the

perch Perch is a common name for freshwater fish from the genus ''Perca'', which belongs to the family Percidae of the large order Perciformes. The name comes from , meaning the type species of this genus, the European perch (''P. fluviatilis'') ...

capital of the world. There are a number of boat ramps and other facilities around the lake to facilitate recreational activities on the lake. Recreation in the form of open water and ice fishing is estimated to have generated more than $20 million annually. White Horse Hill National Game Preserve is located on the lake's southern shore. Grahams Island State Park is located on an island in the lake. Other parks on the lake include Black Tiger State Recreation Area and Shelvers Grove State Recreation Area, which is now closed due to the lake's flooding.

Issues and controversies

Outlet controversy

During the most recent wet cycle which began in 1993, the lake rose over , inundating of primarily agricultural land. This required the expenditure of more than $400 million in flood protection measures.Kempf, Bart. 2007. "Draining Devils Lake: The International Lawmaking Problems Created by the Devils Lake Outlet," ''Georgetown International Environmental Law Review.'' Some stakeholders argued for construction of an emergency outlet into the Sheyenne River, which is a tributary of the

Red River of the North The Red River (), also called the Red River of the North () to differentiate it from the Red River of the South, Red River in the south of the continent, is a river in the north-central United States and central Canada. Originating at the confl ...

. The Army Corps of Engineers proposed to draw water from a different point of the lake, provide filtration, and discharge a maximum of of water from Devil's Lake, in order to lessen dependence on overflow or evaporation to reduce water levels.Hollis, Duncan B. 2007. "Disaggregating Devils Lake: Can Non-State Actors, Hegemony, or Principal-Agent Theory Explain the Boundary Waters Treaty?" In ''Responsibility of Individuals, States and Organizations.'' The Corps of Engineers estimated its project costs to amount to $186.5 million, with the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature, legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, including a Lower house, lower body, the United States House of Representatives, ...

designating $100 million to the project;

would have paid the remaining amount. Because the project potentially affected the Red River of the North, which runs into Canadian waters, the project was considered to be subject to the Boundary Waters Treaty, and international issues were raised. Led by Republican Governor

John Hoeven John Henry Hoeven III ( ; born March 13, 1957) is an American banker and politician serving as the senior U.S. senator from North Dakota, a seat he has held since 2011. A member of the Republican Party, Hoeven served as the 31st governor of N ...

, North Dakota objected to the water quality provisions and the amount of funding required. Instead it constructed its own outlet, with approval of the North Dakota Department of Health, the U.S. State Department, and

Council on Environmental Quality The Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) is a division of the Executive Office of the President of the United States, Executive Office of the President that coordinates federal Natural environment, environmental efforts in the United States ...

. This outlet, which cost $28 million, has a lower maximum discharge than the federal proposal (limited to a maximum of by the Section 402 NDPDES Permit); its gravel filter removes only larger organisms. But it has provided some relief to the flood problem.Landers, Jay. 2005, Oct. "North Dakota Begins Operating Devils Lake Diversion," ''Civil Engineering'': 18. Construction began in 2003 and was completed as of summer 2005. The state outlet project was opposed by the governments of

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

and

Manitoba Manitoba is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population ...

, Canada. They argue the outlet would create the potential for the transfer of unknown foreign aquatic species and high levels of sulfates into the Red River basin, an important agricultural area, and

Lake Winnipeg Lake Winnipeg () is a very large, relatively shallow lake in North America, in the Canadian province of Manitoba. Its southern end is about north of the city of Winnipeg. Lake Winnipeg is Canada's sixth-largest freshwater lake and the third- ...

, the world's 10th-largest freshwater lake. In March 2004, Manitoba, along with Minnesota and several environmental groups, sued the North Dakota Department of Health in state court over the Devils Lake Outlet 402 NDPDES Permit. The court ruled the outlet could proceed in August 2004 and May 2005. The Boundary Waters Treaty of 1909 established an intermediary, the

International Joint Commission The International Joint Commission () is a bi-national organization established by the governments of the United States and Canada under the Boundary Waters Treaty of 1909. Its responsibilities were expanded with the signing of the Great L ...

(IJC), through which the United States and Canada can solve cross-boundary water disputes, but the commission has no power to act without invocation by both nations.Boundary Waters Treaty of 1909 Canada attempted to invoke the IJC for purposes of conflict resolution, but the United States did not, effectively preventing the IJC from taking part in the controversy.Flanders, Joseph M. 2006. "Transboundary Water Disputes on an International and State Platform: A Controversial Resolution to North Dakota's Devils Lake Dilemma," ''North Dakota Law Review'' 82, 3. The

Government of Canada The Government of Canada (), formally His Majesty's Government (), is the body responsible for the federation, federal administration of Canada. The term ''Government of Canada'' refers specifically to the executive, which includes Minister of t ...

argues that the diversion by the state, without consultation or approval from Canada, is a violation of the Boundary Waters Treaty of 1909 and Canada's national sovereignty. The U.S. government contends the diversion will not be harmful, nor will it violate the treaty under current conditions. In November 2005, a joint United States and Canadian study concluded that none of the 13 species Canada classifies as invasive were present in Devils Lake. The study did find three species of fish parasites that are not currently known to exist in Lake Winnipeg (to which the Red River flows). However, all three are ubiquitous to the waters of North America and have a wide variety of hosts. A difficulty inherent in determining what species are in Devils Lake versus Lake Winnipeg results from spatial relationships and scale. Lake Winnipeg covers approximately , dozens of times as large as Devils Lake. In addition, the Devils Lake Basin is significantly smaller than the watersheds feeding Lake Winnipeg, including the Saskatchewan River basin at approximately . Drawing conclusions about the biological community already in Lake Winnipeg is difficult, due to the relative lack of biological sampling there compared to that of the smaller Devils Lake.

Carp

Due to the rising waters of the Devils Lake and its basin, streams can flow into the

Red River Valley The Red River Valley is a region in central North America that is drained by the Red River of the North; it is part of both Canada and the United States. Forming the border between Minnesota and North Dakota when these territories were admitted ...

or the Devils Lake Basin. The Red River Valley basin contains a "rough fish", the

common carp The common carp (''Cyprinus carpio''), also known as European carp, Eurasian carp, or simply carp, is a widespread freshwater fish of eutrophic waters in lakes and large rivers in Europe and Asia.Fishbase''Cyprinus carpio'' Linnaeus, 1758/ref>Ark ...

, which the North Dakota Game and Fish Department fears will enter Devils Lake basin waters in the near future, allowing the carp to populate Devils Lake. The carp's fast reproductive growth and the lack of carp predators in the lake will likely help it to dramatically increase in population. This could have drastic consequences for existing populations of game fish, such as the

walleye The walleye (''Sander vitreus'', Synonym (taxonomy), synonym ''Stizostedion vitreum''), also called the walleyed pike, yellow pike, yellow pikeperch or yellow pickerel, is a freshwater perciform fish native to most of Canada and to the Northern ...

and

northern pike The northern pike (''Esox lucius'') is a species of carnivorous fish of the genus ''Esox'' (pikes). They are commonly found in brackish water, moderately salty and fresh waters of the Northern Hemisphere (''i.e.'' holarctic in distribution). T ...

, which could greatly harm the sport fishing industry. Some preventive measures have been proposed, including inserting chemicals in the creeks along the boundary of the Devils Lake Basin and the Red River Valley to kill fish. Biologists did tests in 2005 which conclude that there are currently no carp in the Devils Lake Basin, but some have been found within two miles (3 km). The carp appear to have been stalled by the abundant

cattail ''Typha'' is a genus of about 30 species of monocotyledonous flowering plants in the family Typhaceae. These plants have a variety of common names, in British English as bulrushStreeter D, Hart-Davies C, Hardcastle A, Cole F, Harper L. 2009. ...

plants, which makes travel impossible for the fish.

Railroad problems

Due to the lake's rising waters, the

BNSF Railway BNSF Railway is the largest freight railroad in the United States. One of six North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 36,000 employees, of track in 28 states, and over 8,000 locomotives. It has three Transcontinental railroad, transcontine ...

temporarily suspended freight traffic between Devils Lake and Churchs Ferry, a total of , during 2009–2013. However,

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

's ''

Empire Builder The ''Empire Builder'' is a daily long-distance passenger train operated by Amtrak between Chicago and either Seattle or Portland via two sections west of Spokane. Introduced in 1929, it was the flagship passenger train of the Great North ...

'' continued to operate over this segment. BNSF offered Amtrak the right to instead operate the ''Empire Builder'' over the Northern Transcon route, to which freight traffic had been shifted. To compensate for the loss of station stops at Grand Forks, Devils Lake, and

Rugby, North Dakota Rugby is a city in and the county seat of Pierce County, North Dakota, Pierce County, North Dakota, United States. The population was 2,509 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in North Dakota, 19th largest ...

that would have been caused by the shift, BNSF suggested that Amtrak add a station stop at New Rockford, North Dakota. However, Amtrak said that they would continue using the line by the lake. In 2010, analysts estimated that Amtrak would soon either have to rebuild the bridge that crosses the lake at Churchs Ferry, or reroute its passenger trains. On June 15, 2011, BNSF and Amtrak agreed to rebuild the rail line, whereby each would cover one-third of the cost. The state of North Dakota received a federal TIGER grant to pay for the remaining third. The growth of freight traffic associated with oil from the Bakken formation in this period resulted in BNSF upgrading its assessment of the importance of the Devils Lake line.Ross B. Capon, "AMTRAK'S LONG-DISTANCE TRAINS: BRIEF HISTORY, BENEFITS, INFRASTRUCTURE CHALLENGES"
, for Midwest Interstate Passenger Rail Commission, 9 June 2014; accessed 1 November 2016
''Grand Forks Herald'' After the track was rebuilt and raised, through service resumed from Devils Lake to Churchs Ferry.

References

External links

Devils Lake
from the

United States Geological Survey The United States Geological Survey (USGS), founded as the Geological Survey, is an agency of the U.S. Department of the Interior whose work spans the disciplines of biology, geography, geology, and hydrology. The agency was founded on Mar ...

Devils Lake hydrograph
from the

National Weather Service The National Weather Service (NWS) is an Government agency, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that is tasked with providing weather forecasts, warnings of hazardous weather, and other weathe ...

Devils Lake
from the North Dakota State Water Commission
Devils Lake Outlet 402 NDPDES Permit
from the North Dakota Department of Health *
Legal Article/Analysis
Devils Lake, Social Science Research Network. North Dakota Law Review {{authority control Lakes of North Dakota Endorheic lakes of the United States Bodies of water of Ramsey County, North Dakota Bodies of water of Benson County, North Dakota Environment of North Dakota Sheyenne River Sacred lakes of the Americas