Devils Lake, North Dakota, USA

Devils Lake in northeastern North Dakota is a closed basin lake. Located at the lowest point within its basin, Devils Lake has no outlet. The result is that the lake is more prone to significant lake level variations. Lately, it has only been rising.

A USGS North Dakota Water Science Center graph shows the lake’s level has been higher in the past two decades than ever recorded.

Why "Devils Lake"? Native Americans called the lake Miniwaukan, which means "spirit water." European explorers incorrectly translated this to "bad spirit," which evolved into "Devils Lake."

Imagery

Aug. 11, 1984, Landsat 5 (path/row 31/27) — Devils Lake, North Dakota, USA

Aug. 10, 1995, Landsat 5 (path/row 31/27) — Devils Lake, North Dakota, USA

Aug. 23, 2000, Landsat 5 (path/row 31/27) — Devils Lake, North Dakota, USA

Aug. 16, 2003, Landsat 5 (path/row 31/27) — Devils Lake, North Dakota, USA

Sep. 12, 2007, Landsat 5 (path/row 31/27) — Devils Lake, North Dakota, USA

Sep. 7, 2011, Landsat 5 (path/row 31/27) — Devils Lake, North Dakota, USA

Sep. 10, 2018, Landsat 8 (path/row 31/27) — Devils Lake, North Dakota, USA

Sep. 18, 2021, Landsat 8 (path/row 31/27) — Devils Lake, North Dakota, USA

Aug. 4, 2022, Landsat 8 (path/row 31/27) — Devils Lake, North Dakota, USA

Downloads

Trading Card

Bonham, K., 2013, Despite new Devils Lake outlets, support remains for Tolna Coulee releases: Grand Forks Herald, available online at http://www.grandforksherald.com/content/despite-new-devils-lake-outlets-support-remains-tolna-coulee-releases-0. (Accessed September 12, 2017.)

Devils Lake Tourism, 2015, Explore the Past: Devils Lake Tourism Web page at http://tourism.devilslakend.com/what-to-do/explore-history/. (Accessed February 13, 2015.)

Gannett, H., 1905, The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States, 2nd Ed.: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 258, 334 p. Available online at http://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/b258.

Knutson, J., 2014, Devils Lake flooding still hurting farmers, ranchers: Agweek, available online at http://www.agweek.com/business/agriculture/3792585-devils-lake-flooding-still-hurting-farmers-ranchers. (Accessed September 12, 2017.)

ND Department of Health, 2003, State of North Dakota Water Quality Report for the Devils Lake Outlet Project: North Dakota Department of Health Water Quality, available online at https://www.ndhealth.gov/WQ/DevilsLake/2003/. (Accessed February 13, 2015.)

NDSWC, [n.d.], Devils Lake Outlet Mitigation Plan: North Dakota State Water Commission, available online at http://www.swc.nd.gov/basins/devils_lake/outlets/. (Accessed September 12, 2017.)

NDSWC, 2017, Devils Lake by the Numbers: North Dakota State Water Commission available online at http://www.swc.nd.gov/basins/devils_lake/dl_basin.html. (Accessed September 12, 2017.)

North Dakota Department of Health, 2018, Residents Encouraged to Avoid Blue-green Algae: North Dakota Department of Health, accessed February 4, 2019, at https://health.nd.gov/news-media/news-releases.

Scott, M., 2010, Devils Lake, North Dakota: NASA Earth Observatory, available at http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=42624. (Accessed January 12, 2015.)

USGS, 2013, Devils Lake Basin in North Dakota: North Dakota Water Science Center Web site at http://nd.water.usgs.gov/devilslake/. (Accessed January 12, 2015.)

USGS, 2013, Science of the Devils Lake Basin: North Dakota Water Science Center Web site at http://nd.water.usgs.gov/devilslake/science/index.html. (Accessed January 12, 2015.)