Gov. Jack Dalrymple chaired his last state Water Commission meeting in Bismarck Friday (12-9).
And for Dalrymple, it was a time to reminisce about his first year as chairman.
Dalrymple took over as Governor after then Gov. John Hoeven was elected to the US Senate. He said in that first year, two big water issues faced him. One was the rising Devils Lake – and the need to lower the lake level. At the time, the lake was high enough – it was threatening to naturally spill over into the Sheyenne River.
“And I remember when I announced to my staff that we were not going to allow Devils Lake to overflow. And they could scrap the five year plan and the three year plan, because we were going to get it done in one year," Dalrymple said. "Everybody kind of gasped.”
But Dalrymple said that first year, a control structure and an additional outlet were built.
“And I remember talking to the General in Washington, telling him if he didn’t get that control structure built, that the flooding of the Sheyenne was going to be on his record for life," Dalrymple said. "It (construction) started the next day.”
The second issue was the major flooding of the Souris and Missouri Rivers. Dalrymple said he will especially remember what happened in Minot, when more than 11,000 people were evacuated, and the flood destroyed, homes, businesses and schools.
“And I think I flew or helicoptered to Minot 14 days in a row,” said Dalrymple. And he said the Minot area continues to recover .
“But I will never forget that when school started in Minot after the 2011 floods, it started on-time, and the enrollment did not drop," Dalrymple said. He also said that was a great credit to all the people of Ward County and the people of North Dakota.
