Call for review of the Devil's Lake water diversion project by the International Joint Commission

To:  U.S. President George W. Bush and Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin

The Devil’s Lake water diversion project is scheduled to open on July 1st, 2005. When the outlet opens, water will flow from Devil’s Lake into the Sheyenne River in North Dakota, which joins the Red River and flows into Hudson Bay. The environmental impact of opening the Devil’s Lake Outlet is poorly studied, and could be devastating to downstream ecosystems in both the United States and Canada.

The International Joint Commission (IJC) is an independent organization charged with administering the Boundary Waters Treaty which has allowed the resolution of numerous international disputes over shared water resources for nearly a hundred years. During the years of debate over the construction of this outlet, North Dakota has refused to allow review of the Devil’s Lake project by the IJC. By going ahead with the Devils Lake Outlet without proper assessment, North Dakota is endangering not only the downstream environments of North Dakota and Manitoba but also a long-standing, internationally acclaimed environmental agreement.

We, citizens of both the United States of America and Canada, call on President George W. Bush and Prime Minister Paul Martin to agree to submit the Devil’s Lake water diversion project for review by the International Joint Commission, as well as to put a hold on all further construction or opening of the outlet while discussions are ongoing.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

The Call for review of the Devil's Lake water diversion project by the International Joint Commission Petition to U.S. President George W. Bush and Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin was created by and written by Claire Sevenhuysen (devilslake05@yahoo.ca).  This petition is hosted here at www.PetitionOnline.com as a public service. There is no endorsement of this petition, express or implied, by Artifice, Inc. or our sponsors. For technical support please use our simple Petition Help form.

Send this to a friend