[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 68 (Friday, May 20, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1034]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[[Page E1034]]
                NEW YORK TIMES EDITORIAL ON DEVILS LAKE

                                 ______
                                 

                     HON. LOUISE McINTOSH SLAUGHTER

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 19, 2005

  Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to enter into the Record an 
editorial by the Canadian Ambassador to the United States, Frank 
McKenna, on the crisis surrounding Devils Lake.

                [From the New York Times, May 12, 2005]

                          Hell From High Water

                           (By Frank McKenna)

       Washington.--A crisis looms on the United States border 
     with Canada, and it could easily be averted with some 
     research and a little patience.
       The problem stems from a body of water in North Dakota 
     known as Devils Lake. The lake has no natural drainage, and 
     because North Dakota has drained surrounding wetlands, it has 
     risen 26 feet since 1993, flooding nearby communities. In 
     Canada, we are sympathetic to the plight of the lake's 
     neighbors, but not to the solution their state has proposed.
       In June, North Dakota plans to open an outlet that will let 
     Devils Lake water travel into the Sheyenne River and on into 
     the Red River, which flows north into Canada. From there the 
     water will eventually stream into Lake Winnipeg and the 
     Hudson Bay watershed.
       Devils Lake, a remnant of a shallow glacial sea, is a 
     closed ecological system that has been geographically 
     separate from the surrounding Hudson Bay basin for more than 
     a thousand years. Its salty waters have high concentrations 
     of nitrogen, sulfates and phosphates--minerals that could 
     cause severe digestive distress if consumed and could be 
     lethal to aquatic life. Because of these contaminants, North 
     Dakota does not allow Devils Lake waters to be used for 
     irrigation.
       Once the canal is opened, the pollutants will enter the 
     water supply of downstream communities in North Dakota, 
     Minnesota and Manitoba. Moreover, species of fish, plants, 
     parasites and viruses previously confined in Devils Lake, in 
     some cases for millenniums, will spill out into the Sheyenne 
     and Red Rivers. There they could kill the native plants and 
     fish of the larger ecosystem. The consequences for Lake 
     Winnipeg, the largest freshwater fishery in North America, 
     are particularly worrisome.
       Despite concerns on both sides of the border about 
     maintaining safe water sources, North Dakota has decided to 
     pump out Devils Lake water without undertaking any 
     environmental assessment or establishing ecological 
     safeguards.
       There is a solution to this impending crisis. Nearly 100 
     years ago, Canada and the United States established the 
     Boundary Waters Treaty. Under that treaty the two governments 
     set up an International Joint Commission to address 
     differences of opinion involving boundary waters. So far, of 
     the 53 issues the two countries have jointly referred to the 
     commission, 51 have been resolved by mutual agreement.
       For over a year, Canada has been requesting that North 
     Dakota put off pumping water while the United States and 
     Canada refer the issue to the commission for a time-limited, 
     independent, scientific review. Both the Canadian and 
     Manitoban governments have stated that they will support the 
     commission's finding, whatever it may be. The governors of 
     Minnesota and Missouri, as well as many other officials, have 
     expressed support for the Canadian request in letters to the 
     United States secretary of state.
       At their March meeting in Waco, Texas, President Bush, 
     Prime Minister Paul Martin of Canada and President Vicente 
     Fox of Mexico pledged to enhance water quality ``by working 
     bilaterally, trilaterally and through existing regional 
     bodies.'' Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice should 
     demonstrate the strength of that commitment by joining Canada 
     in referring the Devils Lake project to the joint commission.
       If instead the Devils Lake project goes forward without a 
     review, it will damage not only the region's environment and 
     economy, but also North America's most important bilateral 
     water management arrangement. There is a better solution.

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