St. Paul, Mn  (CSi) . – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Paul District, is reducing outflows into the Sheyenne River at Baldhill Dam, located northwest of Valley City, North Dakota, to approximately 100 cubic feet per second, or cfs, beginning Monday, July 17, 2017.

Outflows are being reduced in order to perform a survey at a downstream dam. A mussel and fish survey will be conducted at various locations during this period as well. Corps staff will lower Lake Ashtabula water levels to elevation 1,265.8 feet in order to store the water. The pool is expected to climb to an elevation near 1,266.2 feet during this time.

Corps staff plan to resume a normal outflow of 800 cfs July 20.

Baldhill Dam forms Lake Ashtabula on the Sheyenne River. Congress authorized the construction of Baldhill Dam in 1944 to stabilize flows on the Sheyenne River. The dam, which was completed in 1951, serves as a multi-purpose facility, providing water supply, flood abatement, wildlife habitat and recreational opportunities.

 

The nearly 600 U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Paul District, employees working at more than 40 sites in five upper-Midwest states serve the American public in the areas of environmental enhancement, navigation, flood damage reduction, water and wetlands regulation, recreation sites and disaster response. Through the St. Paul District Fiscal Year 2016 $78 million budget, nearly 1,250 non-Corps jobs were added to the regional economy as well as $120 million to the national economy. For more information, see www.mvp.usace.army.mil.