Landowner group sues over Wahpeton water sale for large dairy

A group of Wahpeton-area residents and the Dakota Resource Council are suing a state agency in a dispute over water for a large dairy farm. 

The suit against the North Dakota Department of Water Resources was filed Friday in Burleigh County District Court. 

The Department of Water Resources approved the sale of 500,000 gallons of water per day from the city of Wahpeton to the Southeast Water Users District. 

Opponents of giant North Dakota dairy argue for permit reversal

The Southeast Water Users District would be one source of water for the 12,500-cow Abercrombie Dairy, operated by Minnesota-based Riverview. 

The lawsuit seeks to invalidate the water agency’s dismissal of the group’s administrative challenge and to nullify the approval of the water sale. 

The water would come from the Wahpeton Buried Valley Aquifer. The lawsuit argues the residents rely on the same aquifer as the city and the dairy, which is under construction north of Wahpeton.

The lawsuit argues that the Department of Water Resources water sale approval conflicts with the agency’s mission to manage North Dakota’s water resources responsibly. 

“I do not understand why the state is risking the depletion of the only water source for the city of Wahpeton and the surrounding farmsteads,” Richland County resident Mary Sahl, one of the appellants, said in a news release. “There is no backup water supply for Wahpeton or for those of us who rely on this groundwater.”  

On July 30, an administrative law judge dismissed the residents’ claims, saying the residents lacked standing because they do not live in Wahpeton and had not yet been harmed. The residents asked Water Resources to reconsider in August, but the agency denied that request. 

Water Resources said Monday it does not comment on pending litigation. 

Large dairy farms like those proposed by Riverview near Wahpeton and Hillsboro require 28 to 30 gallons of water per cow each day, according to Riverview. That would equal at least 350,000 gallons per day for the Abercrombie Dairy and double that for the Herberg Dairy southeast of Hillsboro in Traill County.  

Riverview says it tries to recycle as much water as possible. Capturing rainwater from the roofs of barns and other buildings provides the Campbell Dairy in Minnesota’s Wilkin County with about half the water that it needs for its 10,000 cows. The company has similar plans for the North Dakota operations. 

Dakota Resource Council, a North Dakota based environmental group, is pursuing another lawsuit against a different state agency and Riverview.

The group has filed a lawsuit against the Department of Environmental Quality and Riverview in Traill County where Riverview plans to build the 25,000-cow Herberg Dairy near the Red River. A judge heard arguments on that case in July but has yet to rule.

Reach North Dakota Monitor deputy editor Jeff Beach at [email protected]