The Grand Forks City Council on June 23 received a detailed legal and technical briefing on the Red River Valley Water Supply Project. City‑hired legal counsel and water‑resource consultants told council members the city should press for local control of project operations downstream of the Missouri River delivery point and resolve longstanding uncertainties about Lake Ashtabula (Thompson Acre) water rights, which affect how stored water would be administered and delivered to Grand Forks.

City‑hired water counsel reviewed the history of Lake Ashtabula (Baldhill Dam) storage rights, noting Grand Forks holds a senior permit allocation (a Thompson Acre account) but that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers never issued a formal storage contract to the permit holders. Counsel said the state has not established an administration framework for Thompson Acre account deliveries and that inter‑holder agreement among account owners is lacking.

Precision Water Resources (consultant) presented a technical review of the city’s demand projections and the firm yield of existing supplies (Red River permit, Lake Ashtabula/Thompson Acre storage, Red Lake River). Consultants said key uncertainties in model assumptions — including demand projections to 2075 and how much water each existing source can reliably provide in a drought year — need to be reduced before Grand Forks finalizes a nomination for the pipeline and associated financial commitments.

Both legal and technical presenters recommended a set of next steps: (1) engage the North Dakota Department of Water Resources to clarify administration of Thompson Acre permits and to define how stored and project water would be delivered; (2) engage the U.S. Army Corps on updating Lake Ashtabula’s water‑control manual; (3) develop firm bypass/return‑flow agreements with Fargo to clarify how much project water will reliably arrive at Grand Forks; and (4) refine demand projections (including industrial scenarios) and firm‑yield estimates to produce a defensible nomination. Council voted to receive the report and the consultants’ recommendation to proceed with the targeted technical and administrative work.