STUMP LAKE, N.D. -- As wind-whipped waves tore away at the shoreline Tuesday, soldiers from the North Dakota Army National Guard and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers started building an 800-foot-long dike to protect facilities at Stump Lake Park -- a café, public restrooms and a nearly 90-year-old historic roller-skating rink and pavilion.
It's a temporary fix.
Next month, the Nelson County Commission and Park Board expect to launch a $500,000 Save the Park campaign to move the buildings to higher ground before the spring of 2010.
"This is a very historic area, and we can't let it be taken over by nature," Nelson County Commissioner Harold Bergquist said.
The commission also is trying to get the pavilion added to the National Register of Historic Places.
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The lake's elevation was 1,449.63 feet above sea level Tuesday. That's about 38 feet higher than it was in 2001; two years after Devils Lake started spilling into Stump through the 6-mile-long Jerusalem Outlet.
Stump Lake, located about 12 miles south of Lakota, N.D., had been a separate body of water for more than 170 years. But in September 2007, the elevations of Devils and Stump lakes equalized at 1,447.15 feet. They have been rising at about the same rate ever since.
With Devils and Stump lakes predicted to reach 1,451.3 feet this summer, people in Nelson County have been scrambling to protect the shoreline and facilities.
Besides the temporary HESCO barriers -- jumbo-sized sandbags reinforced with wire mesh -- crews also are adding riprap to the park's boat ramp.
The HESCO barriers will provide another 3 feet of protection.
"They'll be good up to 1,452 or '53," Nelson County Commission Chairman Odell Flaagen said.
The café sits at an elevation of 1,455.7 feet, while the 140-by-78-foot pavilion is at 1,459 to 1,460 feet.
At an elevation of about 1,459 feet, Devils Lake will overflow through Stump Lake into the Tolna Coulee, which runs to the Sheyenne River. The Sheyenne empties into the Red River north of Fargo.
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The Army corps determined earlier this year that Stump Lake Park facilities are not close enough to the lake elevation to justify the cost of a permanent flood-protection project.
Bergquist said county officials will study elevations around the park and decide where best to move the café, pavilion and restroom facilities.
One option is to move them to one of the park's softball fields at an elevation of about 1,470 feet, according to Flaagen.
"This is an urgent project," Flaagen said. "The lake has risen 25 feet since 2005. We've only got about five feet until it gets to the café. If the lake gets to 1,453 or '54, we're in trouble."
Reach Bonham at (701) 780-1110; (800) 477-6572, ext. 110; or send e-mail to kbonham@gfherald.com .
