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• Board Meeting Date: 5/20/2008
• Description: CWCB Director's Report
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

area) and the Northwest Area Water Supply (Minot area) protect a claim against the threat of "use it or
lose it."
The Red River Valley Water Supply Project is shaping up as North Dakota's latest claim. Under the plan,
water would be pumped out of Lake Audubon into the McClusky Canal and piped to the Sheyenne River,
where Lake Ashtabula would release water as needed along the Sheyenne and Red rivers.
The project is spurred by the fear that another drought similar to the 1930s would wipe out the economic
infrastructure of the Red River Valley, resulting in an economic loss estimated at $2.4 billion annually.
Also, the lack of a guaranteed water supply could dissuade industries from locating in eastern North
Dakota. (Source: Lake Agassiz Water Authority)
GROUP LISTS MOST ENDANGERED U.S. WATERWAYS -Water mismanagement in the
Southeast and Southwest and damaging projects along the Gulf Coast pose the most serious threats to
U.S. rivers, an advocacy group said in a report.
The Catawba-Wateree River in North and South Carolina topped the list of the 10 most endangered U. S.
waterways compiled by the group American Rivers. The states are trying to draw more water from the
river, rather than focusing on conservation and smart development, the group warned, adding that the
Carolinas were not alone.
Second on the list: the Rogue River in Oregon, which is threatened by logging. The American Rivers
group is urging Congress to pass legislation granting Wild and Scenic River protections to 98 miles of the
Rogue's tributaries and designate unprotected roadless areas as wilderness areas.
The group also lists the Cache la Poudre River in Colorado, the Minnesota River in Minnesota, the St.
Johns River in Florida, the Gila River in New Mexico and Arizona and the Niobrara River in Nebraska as
at risk for losing significant amounts of water.
The group also criticized an "antiquated management plan" for a dam on the St. Lawrence River in
Canada and development pressures on the Allagash Wilderness Waterway in Maine. It also cited the
Army Corps of Engineers fora "massive development scheme" that would damage the Pearl River in
Louisiana and Mississippi.
• #3: Poudre River (CO) -Colorado's only Wild and Scenic River could soon lose much of its
remaining water thanks to a scheme proposed by some decision makers to unnecessarily divert
billions of gallons of water away from the Cache la Poudre. Such action could cripple Fort
Collins, which has christened the river as one of the town's "economic engines." The proposed
Northern Integrated Supply Project (NISP) would cost homeowners and taxpayers almost a
billion dollars, and subject residents and future generations to the debt for 30 years. NISP would
divert a staggering 36 million gallons of water a day away from the river before it reaches Fort
Collins, enough to fill an Olympic sized swimming pool every 8 minutes. (Source: Greenwire
News Source)
DITCH BILL UPDATE - As part of staff s continuing effort to keep the Board informed of the U. S.
Forest Service's ("USFS") progress on the issuance of Ditch Bill Easements and related issues, the
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