Category Archives: DLWID

First level for information about DLWID

June 4, 2014 · 12:02 pm

How To Contact DLWID

Many of you have asked us to post contact information so you may contact the Devils Lake Water Improvement District.  Please refer to the following information to share your thoughts with the District.  We suggest that the most powerful messaging methodology is to draft comments and email each of the board members.  Then follow up by attending the board meeting and sign up to provide a brief verbal summary of your written comments.  Most important however is that you make contact and let them know your thoughts and concerns.  Please share this information with friends and neighbors and encourage them to do the same.

Contact Information for DLWID

Attend a Meeting: DLWID’s Regular Meetings are held the 2nd Thursday of the month. Meetings start at 6pm.

Lincoln City Council Chambers
3rd floor of City Hall
801 SW Hwy 101, Lincoln City, Oregon.

Send an email: You can reach the District’s staff and board members directly by using the links below:

Email the Lake Manager:
[email protected]

Email the  board:
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]

Send a letter:

Devils Lake Water Improvement District
PO Box 974
Lincoln City, OR 97367

Call or fax the District:

Phone: 1-(541) 994-5330
Fax: 1-(541) 994-6040

Drop by their office:

Oregon Coast Community College
North County Campus Room 132
3788 SE High School Drive
Lincoln City, OR 97367

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May 26, 2014 · 9:28 pm

Help Save Devils Lake

The Devils Lake Water Improvement District (DLWID) Board meeting will be held on Thursday June 12th at 6:00pm. The meeting will be held in the City Hall Council Chambers, which are located on the third floor of City Hall  (801 SW Hwy 101, Lincoln City). The Devils Lake Water Improvement District is the governing body which oversees Devils Lake in Lincoln City.  The DLWID Board committed in their May meeting to make a precedent setting decision during this meeting that will impact may boaters on Devils Lake for years to come. Your presence does make a difference.  Please come and help save Devils Lake!

The Devils Lake Water Improvement District Manager’s current recommendation is to commission a study on the permanent removal of the seasonal dam at the mouth of the D River which was designed to provide safe boating water levels in Devils Lake.  If implemented, this plan will result in a summer lake level that will severely impact boating and recreational activities.   This proposal is part of an intentional effort by the DLWID Manager to accomplish what he has coined, “natural hydrology”.  Two summers ago, he convinced the DLWID board to lower the lake six inches which started a five year clock toward the forfeiture of the Districts right to operate the dam; we have just two and a half years to resolve this issue. In concert with his plan to remove the dam, the DLWID Manager has recently been advocating for his participation in developing restrictions on how you can use property surrounding Devils Lake. Should these plans be implemented the entire shoreline would be put in jeopardy and Devils Lake would be put on course toward becoming a meadow! Continue reading →

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May 7, 2014 · 3:58 pm

DLNA Offers A Path Forward

Path-ForwardAs a community we are very much aware that the public’s interest in the lake and the activities of DLWID are at an all time high.  The District received 1.5 hours of testimony in its last board meeting attended by approximately 140 citizens and participated in a 5 hour workshop with nearly 60 present.

Following these public meetings DLWID board members and members of the DLNA board mutually reached out to each other and participated in series of meetings with the intent to find a path forward.  In those discussions we discovered that the District and the public agree on much more than they disagree.  Generally all parties expressed a common sentiment that the best outcome from recent events would be to harness the enhanced public awareness into a positive outcome that would benefit the lake and the community.

To that end, the Devils Lake Neighborhood Association has outlined a path forward that we feel can accomplish these simple goals.  Our ask is simple; convert six inches of water into the catalyst that builds an engaged community that is supportive of the Districts efforts as described below.  At the conclusion of our discussions last week we felt hopeful that the District would view this as an option that deserved a chance.

Continue reading →

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May 4, 2014 · 10:13 pm

Attend May DLWID Meeting

Board Meets May 8th, 2014 6:00pm

The Devils Lake Water Improvement District Board meeting will be held on Thursday May 8th at 6:00pm. The meeting will be held in the City Hall Council Chambers, which are located on the third floor of City Hall. Your presence does make a difference.  Please be there!

The District Manager’s current recommendation is to keep lake level down at 9.0’ and commission a study on the permanent removal of the dam which could result in a summer lake level a foot lower than you’ve ever seen before.  Our conversations with the Board members indicate they still have an open mind on the issue.  We need you to attend and bring five concerned friends or neighbors to help impress upon the DLWID Board that the only choice is to listen to their constituents and raise the lake to 9.53’ this summer. The Devils Lake Neighborhood Association has presented a plan to the DLWID Board which is designed to bring the community back together and accomplish great things for the lake.

I want to thank everybody who came to the April board meeting as well as the lake workshop the following weekend.  For those of you attending the workshop you may have left believing there was a very high likelihood of the board reversing its current policy resulting in a summertime lake level of 9.53 feet.  That conclusion would have been reached based on the presentation of the District’s subject matter expert, Mr. Joe Eilers of Max Depths Aquatics who when asked by a DLWID Board member if a change in 6 inches of lake elevation from 9.0 last summer to the 9.53 impoundment right, would have a measurable impact on erosion, wetlands or algae blooms, answered “no”. Continue reading →

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May 4, 2014 · 10:07 pm

Review 2014-2015 DLWID Budget

Budget Committee Meets May 9th, 2014 10:00am

The Devils Lake Water Improvement District Budget Committee meeting will be held on Friday May 9th at 10:00am. The meeting will be held in the City Hall Council Chambers, which are located on the third floor of City Hall.

The purpose of the meeting is to receive the budget message and to receive comment from the public on the budget. This is a public meeting where deliberation of the Budget Committee will take place. Any person may appear at the meeting and discuss the proposed programs with the Budget Committee.

A copy of the budget document is available online.

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April 16, 2014 · 10:25 pm

Devils Lake Workshop

Saturday April 19, 2014 10:00 OCCC campus

IMG_0152Around 140 interested parties attended the Devils Lake Water Improvement Association meeting last week.  Included in the mix was Mayor Dick Anderson and most of the Lincoln City Council members.  Lake condition and lake level dominated the discussion with nearly 40 testifying during the night.  In the end there were no decisions made by the DLWID board other than to begin the water quality testing for the year as requested by the Devils Lake Neighborhood Association in the March meeting.  David Skirvin called for the District to hold a workshop to discuss the extraordinary conditions that are now occurring on the lake.

Once again we need your help to appear at the upcoming workshop on Devils Lake and Harmful Algal Blooms and an update on the water quality.  Yes we know it’s both Easter weekend as well as the Great City Wide Garage Sale but, we did not pick the day.  Please help us express our concerns and attend the workshop: Saturday April 19, 2014 from 10 am to 12 pm at Oregon Coast Community College, 3788 SE High School Drive, Lincoln City, Oregon.

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April 11, 2014 · 11:31 am

Neighbors Fighting Devils Lake Algae Problem

KGW News Channel 8  and 140 concerned residents attended the DLWID meeting last night to ask the board to fully impound the lake this summer and develop a short term plan to combat Harmful Algal Blooms.  KGW’s story summarized what happened at the meeting quite well.  Thank you to all who attended.

by Katherine Cook, KGW Staff

Posted on April 11, 2014 at 8:42 AM

Updated today at 8:42 AM

 LINCOLN CITY, Ore. — Murky water has several people worried about Devils Lake, in Lincoln City.

The lake, typically popular with boaters and swimmers, had been avoided by longtime users. Some of the worst areas of the water were blue-green and sludgy from swirls of algae.

Two years ago, the Devils Lake Water Improvement District voted to lower the lake level by 6 inches to help prevent erosion. Joe Barnes lives on Devils Lake and said since then, the lake hasn’t been able to flush out algae.

Barnes is president of the Devils Lake Home Owners Association, which was fighting to raise the lake levels back to 9.53 feet.

“When they decided to lower the lake level, we had 500 signatures and I think 86 people spoke and said, ‘Don’t lower the lake, (the algae problem) is going to happen,'” Barnes recalled. “And guess what, this is what happened.”

“This is a tragedy to see water quality like this,” said lake manager Paul Robertson.

Robertson and the DLWID listened to dozens of public comments at a public meeting Thursday night. Nearly every community member who spoke asked the board to raise the lake levels back to 9.53 feet. They also asked for support to dredge D River, to help the lake flush out the algae.

Several community members walked out of the meeting when board members wouldn’t agree that the lowered lake level may have caused the increasing algae.

“(The algae) is based on nutrients (in the lake),” said Robertson.

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