A lawsuit filed by Pembina County against neighboring Cavalier County over how to pay for a planned dam reconstruction project has been dismissed.
Northeast District Judge Donovan Foughty dismissed the suit filed by the Pembina County Water Resource Board and Pembina County Commission against Cavalier County and the Cavalier County Water Resource Board.
The Pembina County boards filed the suit earlier this year, seeking to force Cavalier County to help pay the local share of a $7 million renovation project of Renwick Dam on the Tongue River at Icelandic State Park.
The Pembina County governments want Cavalier County to contribute 57 percent of the local share because that is the percentage of land in the watershed that is located in Cavalier County.
The Cavalier County Commission and county water resource board voted last year not to participate in the project.
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The Renwick Dam, built in 1962, is considered a high-priority project for rehabilitation under the Watershed Rehabilitation Act of 2000. The dam is located just upstream from the city of Cavalier, N.D., a town of 1,500 people.
The project, which originally was planned to begin this year, called for retrofitting some new features into the dam. The top of the dam will be raised by 5.4 feet. In addition, a structural emergency spillway will replace a vegetative spillway that is used today.
The Pembina County Commission and Water Resource board already have approved the establishment of an assessment district in the 43 percent of the watershed that lies in Pembina County.
The federal government will provide 65 percent of the project cost. The North Dakota State Water Commission will contribute 17.5 percent. In addition, the Red River Joint Board will add 8.75 percent.
That leaves 8.75 percent local funding, which would total about $500,000, according to a 2008 project estimate.
Pembina County officials have not yet discussed the suit dismissal or how to proceed on the project, according to county Auditor Dorothy Robinson.
Reach Bonham at (701) 780-1110; (800) 477-6572, ext. 110; or send e-mail to kbonham@gfherald.com .
