Devils Lake and Lake Winnipeg
Manitoba held an emergency debate over a move by North Dakota to drain into Canada what authorities say is polluted water that could harm fisheries. Canadians charge that North Dakota violated a 2005 binational accord when it began pumping water from Devils Lake.
That accord provided for an advanced filter to be installed in Devils Lake, and for a study to be made on the environmental impact on waters flowing from it into Lake Winnipeg in Manitoba. Lake Winnipeg is the world's 10th largest freshwater lake and home to a $25 million fishing industry.
North Dakota says Devils Lake meets U.S. federal standards for salts called sulfates, but Manitoba charges that those norms do not meet previously agreed guidelines and that Devils Lake sulfate levels are 10 times those in Lake Winnipeg. Manitoba believes potentially harmful nonnative fish parasites and algae could also find their way north of the border.
June 15, 2007 6:48 AM | Category: Cleanup