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