LAMOURE, N.D. (AP) - The National Guard has dropped more than 100 sandbags to help reinforce a rural southeastern North Dakota dam spillway being eroded by flood waters that threaten farms and roads.
It’s the latest problem spot among flooding rivers and streams around North Dakota.
The earthen Cottonwood Creek Dam at Lake LaMoure is about 20 miles from the nearest community and its greatest threat is to farms and roads, State Water Commission assistant engineer Todd Sando said.
Lt. Col. Rick Smith, a Guard spokesman, said the sandbags were dropped by a Guard helicopter over the weekend, after erosion problems worsened. The spillway is a channel designed to handle an emergency volume of water on the creek, which is a tributary of the James River.
Sando said rocks were brought in and an auxiliary channel was created in an attempt to control the water. He said the dam was stable despite strong wind that created big waves. No new problems had been reported late Sunday.
Farther to the north, Valley City has been battling the Sheyenne River, which overwhelmed its sewer system. Residents in the community of about 7,000 were advised to leave after the system failed Friday.
Smith said Sunday that 423 homes in Valley City had been evacuated. The city is working to rebuild its sewer system.
The National Weather Service said the Sheyenne River had dropped just below its record level of 20 feet in Valley City but it was not expected to drop much more during the week.
In Jamestown, along the James River, there was some good news. The Army Corps of Engineers said Sunday its updated forecasts show water will not flow over the spillway at the Pipestem Dam north of the city as earlier predicted, because flows into the dam were lower than expected.
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