CARRINGTON, ND (January 15, 2021) – With the passing of the minimum 30-day waiting period since the release of the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) Final Environmental Impact Statement, a Record of Decision (ROD) for the Eastern North Dakota Alternate Water Supply (ENDAWS) has been signed.
ENDAWS is an alternate bulk water supply to the state Red River Valley Water Supply Project (RRVWSP), a municipal, rural and industrial water supply project being developed to meet the water needs of central and eastern North Dakota during moderate and severe droughts.
The Garrison Diversion Conservancy District requested from Reclamation 145 cubic feet per second (cfs) of water from the McClusky Canal in central North Dakota, in addition to 20 cfs authorized in the Central ND Water Supply Project, for a total of 165 cfs to deliver an alternate water supply to the state RRVWSP. The signed ROD authorizes the use of the McClusky Canal for ENDAWS.
While the state RRVWSP is designed with an intake on the Missouri River, the ability to utilize the McClusky Canal as an alternate water source for the project will save millions in construction costs for the RRVWSP, as well as millions in operations and maintenance costs.
“The ability to utilize the existing McClusky Canal is going to make the water project significantly more affordable for the end water users,” says Duane DeKrey, Garrison Diversion’s General Manager.
The historic signing of the ROD will enable the use of the McClusky Canal, a long-underutilized federal asset, for municipal and industrial water supply, which is an authorized purpose of the Garrison Diversion Unit feature.
“We are very grateful to Senator Hoeven, Senator Cramer and Congressman Armstrong for the roles they played to keep this project on track and to the efforts put forth by Reclamation to make this a reality,” says DeKrey.