The Garrison Diversion Conservancy District is hosting its third annual conference in Fargo this Thursday.
General Manager Duane DeKrey says the conference will showcase the history of the efforts to bring water to the eastern part of North Dakota. He says 70 years after the Garrison Diversion was first proposed, the question of how to move water from west to east has been valuable to consider especially during times of drought. DeKrey says the impact a drought could have on the Red River Valley is significant.
"We have a climatologist who told us that the Red River Valley can expect a 30s-style drought by 2050, and 2050 sounds like a long ways off... but when you consider that this project has been ongoing since the 1940s, you can see that it's not going to happen overnight. We have to move forward with the project because one day, we are going to enter a drought cycle."
The main theme of the conference will be "When The Valley Turns Dry." DeKrey says the Red River is the main source of water for the Valley and it doesn't have the type of quality or quantity of water people demand. He says an alternate source for the Valley will support the tremendous population growth in the Valley over the past decade and pre-empt any drought conditions.
