Members of Voices for Lake Oahe (VFLO) received updates on accomplishments in the past year and goals for the future at the organization’s annual meeting held Saturday night at the Strasburg Blue Room.

Featured speaker for the event was Howard Paul, Executive Director of the Missouri Sedimentation Action Coalition, Canton, S.D.

President Randy Bosch opened the meeting and asked the audience to join him in a silent tribute to the late Mike Mastel of Hazelton. Mastel served on the VFLO Board until his death on March 31.

Beaver Bay Impoundment

Bosch reported on the proposed impoundment that would create a lake in Beaver Bay that would provide fishing and recreational activities during drought periods when Lake Oahe is low and inaccessible in the bay area.

The impoundment would have a removable “gate” that would allow Lake Oahe to back up into the bay when the lake is at a normal level so that spawning walleyes could pass through freely.

An informal engineering survey done about three years ago indicated that an impoundment on the east side of the Beaver Bay bridge would create a 929-acre lake at an elevation of 1606 feet.

Bosch said the North Dakota State Water Commission (SWC) hosted a meeting at its Bismarck headquarters on August 16, 2007, where federal, state, county and city officials, as well as VFLO members, met to discuss the project. There was no opposition to the concept, and it was agreed that an engineering firm must be hired to develop a comprehensive proposal that could be submitted to the various state and federal agencies involved.

VFLO, working with the Emmons County Water Resource Board, assembled information for the envisioned impoundment and sent bid requests to four engineers. After the information was sent, the engineers said it needed to come from the Emmons County WRB, and the bids were re-called. At that point the SWC offered to do a preliminary design of the impoundment at no cost.

SWC’s research indicated that an impoundment at 1606 feet on the east side of the bridge would create only a 487-acre lake, which would be much shallower than originally estimated.

“Since the smaller lake would not be suitable for what VFLO had intended, we are now looking at two alternatives,” Bosch said. “One is to use the Highway 1804 embankment as the dam and the other is to consider an impoundment on the west side of the bridge.

The North Dakota Department of Transportation (DOT) expressed concern early in the impoundment discussions as to whether the highway embankment would stand up as an impoundment, so engineers would have to research that.

Bosch said, while the cost of using the highway as an embankment would be lower, the advantages of an impoundment west of the bridge would be the opportunities to have a larger lake, to use the boat ramp in the Beaver Bay campground and to provide more recreation. Another advantage would be that the stability of the highway would not be affected since there would be water on both sides, just as there is when Lake Oahe fills the bay.

Bosch said representatives of the DOT and the SWC will meet in the next few days to discuss whether the highway can be the impoundment. Following that meeting, interested individuals, organizations and government agencies will be invited to a meeting to discuss the future of the impoundment.

“We remain encouraged that the project can be built since there is no opposition to it,” Bosch said. “Coming up with a design that is suitable to the various parties and securing funding are the biggest challenges we face.”

Noxious weed control

Board member Rick Lee reported on VFLO’s efforts to encourage the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to do more to control noxious weeds on Corps’ land in and along the Lake Oahe lake bed.

Lee urged people to contact VFLO when they see noxious weed infestations so that the group can contact the Corps. He said the Corps has responded since VFLO was formed as an advocacy group for Lake Oahe users.

According to Lee, the Corps doesn’t spray weeds in the spring when protected birds lay their eggs and when the eggs are hatching. Consequently, weeds like thistle and wormwood are spreading by the time spraying can begin in the early fall. Lee said it makes it more critical that the areas that need to be sprayed are identified so that they are included in the fall spraying.

Lee also said state legislation now regulates the spread of Aquatic Nuisance Species, namely the zebra mussel and the Eurasian watermilfoil in this area.

Boaters are required to sanitize the live wells, for example, to prevent spreading the nuisance species from one body of water to another. Vegetation clinging to watercraft also must be removed before use in another lake.

Raffle Committee

Darris Job reported on the current fund-raiser raffle, which features eight guns, two portable fish houses and two 32-inch flat screen TVs.

He said 3,000 tickets were printed, and he is hopeful that all will be sold.

Job said the 2007 raffle was “very successful” for the organization.

Shoreline Access

Committee

Board member Tony Splonskowski said an effort started in the fall of 2005 to improve shoreline access along Lake Oahe in Emmons County continues.

In February of 2006, 17 locations were identified and submitted to the Corps. The Corps approved four—the areas at the Hazelton, Ohlhauser and Jennerville boat ramps plus ATV access in the Beaver Bay area.

“We basically gained nothing,” Splonskowski said.

He said problems encountered involved endangered birds and cultural sites. However, he said the Corps asked that the committee come back again with a list, and he and Joe Vetter of Linton-Bismarck are going to do a survey on access points and give the information to the Corps.

Splonskowski urged anyone with suggestions for shoreline access points to contact VFLO.

He attended a Corps Master Plan meeting in Bismarck in March, and he said the Corps now wants more shore fishing access, too.

Boat ramps

Bosch said VFLO sent a letter to the Corps in January outlining the need for more and better boat ramp access given the fact that this is the ninth year of drought and low water.

He said the existing low water ramps need improvements—among them, roads, parking areas, toilet facilities and garbage removal.

VFLO is working with the Emmons County Commissioners to get road maintenance and improvement funding from the Corps for the Ohlhauser ramp raised from $250 per year to $1,440, which would pay for twice a month maintenance. Graveling the road annually would cost about $3,300.

He said the Game & Fish Department has offered to pay up to 75 percent of the cost of the graveling and grading, up to $3,000, and VFLO would pay about $1,740.

Bosch said VFLO would like to see a low-water ramp in the state line-Langeliers Bay area, and the group believes having four ramps would be beneficial to fishermen and the area’s economy.

Sedimentation

(See related story on the presentation by Howard Paul of the Missouri Sedimentation Action Council.)

Election

Directors were elected to four seats on the VFLO Board.

Re-elected were Job and Lee. New directors elected were Joe W. Vetter (Herreid) and Tom Jochim of Linton.

The evening concluded with lunch, a fund-raising auction led by Joe W. Vetter and DJ entertainment by JT Storm (Herreid native Tyler Ochsner of Bismarck and Chad Ochsner of Herreid).

VFLO dues are $25 per year, and checks may be sent to VFLO at P.O. Box 482, Linton, N.D. 58552-0482. The organization’s web site can be accessed through www.ndsportfishingcongress.org (click on Voices for Lake Oahe).