The former mayor of Watford City says even with the downturn in oil drilling in the Bakken, cities like Watford City, Williston and Dickinson are still larger than they were pre-boom.
Brent Sanford is now North Dakota’s Lieutenant Governor – and he spoke at the state Demographics Conference held in Bismarck this week. In an interview, Sanford said while there was rapid growth in population as the wells were drilled, there was a slower, but sustained growth in permanent oil industry employees.
"School enrollment has continued to rise, because that mid-stream-type employee, the long-term production type employee that works as a pumper for Whiting -- that type of employment has really increased, was was predicted," Sanford said. "They find a way to live in Watford City, Williston and Dickinson, bring their families and settle down."
Sanford said in the early stages of the boom, local leaders struggled with the population growth – and the data wasn’t there at first to show how the growth could be sustained.
"As we got better at it, the data gave a lot more credibility to our argument in the Legilsature and in the Governor's office," Sanford said. "The argument was, it's important to reinvest some of those oil tax revenues in the West, to put infrastructure in the ground and let some of the growth happen. new retail, new hotels, new housing had to be built, along with new schools, city halls and county buildings."
Sanford said it underscores the importance of data-driven decisions.