Unit Three: Recommendation Report (Devils Lake Outlet)

Situation

Devils Lake has risen 25 feet since 1993, threatening the communities of Minnewauken and Devil’s Lake, as well as threatening to upset the balance of ecosystems in the region. 

The United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) has recently (Feb. 26, 2003) tentatively endorsed building an outlet from Pelican Lake (connected to Devils Lake) to the Sheyenne River, but the USACE awaits further environmental impact studies before proceeding with plans.

The North Dakota State Water Commission (SWC) has decided to go ahead with a temporary outlet from the West Bay of Devils Lake, and plans to transfer water into the Sheyenne River.

On March 8, 2003, about 60 people from the Lake Region gathered for a public hearing on the plans, and the majority endorsed the SWCs approach. The issue, however, is far from settled because a grassroots organization called "Save the Sheyenne" still opposes any outlets and may sue the State. Minnesota and Manitoba have long opposed North Dakota water projects because they may alter the bio-systems in their water ways or increase flooding problems. The Boundary Waters Treaty of 1909 would seem to present some legal challeges to the Devils Lake Outlet plans.

Audience and Purpose

Your purpose is to review and evaluate the USACE and SWC proposals, any additional proposals you deem relevant, and then present an "objective" recommendation report to the many stakeholders in this issue. In other words, you will be acting as independent consultants, and acting in accordance with the NSPE Code of Ethics for Engineers. Obviously you are not experts on this issue, or even experts in civil engineering, but you can still write a well-researched, well-informed report that acknowledges your limitations (of time, as well as expertise).  

Try to help the general reader understand this issue from the perspective of engineers who want to make the best possible recommendation for the greatest good of the greatest number of people. You will need to understand the concerns of those in and around Devils Lake, but also understand the concerns of other North Dakotans, Minnesotans, and Manitobans.

Much of your report will consist of evaluations of existing plans, but your group should make a recommendation. Your recommendation(s) will likely be one of the following:

• to support an existing plan or plans
• recommend a halt to the outlet construction currently underway
• recommend further study of the problem
• recommend some combination of plans, including some that are not currently being closely considered.  

 

Deliverables

1. Three short informational reports shared with the rest of the class. 
   
   On March 28, your group will provide a short informational report about one of the stakeholder groups in the DL controversy. 
   On April 4, your group will provide a summary of one of the important technical reports produced by the USACE, the SWC, or another key organization. 
   On April 11, your group will provide a short informational report about, or an actual transcript from, and interview with a key person involved in the DL decision-making process. 
   
   These documents will count towards participation points—they should be concise, but informative.  All groups should be able to draw on these documents as they produce their own long reports. 
2. A seven to ten page, single-spaced, recommendation report, directed to the stakeholders in this complex issue.  Page length includes visual presentation of information: maps, tables, graphs—whatever useful visual aids you find or develop.  Design the document for easy, general public reading, not for dedicated, professional engineers. Due April 16.  250 points. 

3.     A 10 minute group presentation, supported by PowerPoint slides or some other visual aids, in which you explain your recommendations to the rest of the class. This particular audience will know much of the same information you do, so your focus should be on explaining your argument: what lead you to the recommendation you put forward in your report? Presentations will be on April 14 and 16.  50 points.

4.     Drafts, discussion notes, any other preliminary work that will help me more accurately evaluate your documents.  A peer-evaluation form should also be submitted separately by each member of the group.  Be sure to keep a file of all the work you do for this unit. Due April 16. No point value—used to ensure individual accountability within groups.

Evaluation

Evaluation will be based on your ability to produce a recommendation report that is relevant, accessible, and usable for the general public.   While I will be responsible for assigning most of the grade in this unit, your group members will evaluate your contribution to the project, and your classmates will evaluation your oral presentation. 

Goals for this unit

At some point during this unit, you will probably ask yourself: “Why am I reading and writing about Devils Lake?  I want to work on machines, not lakes.”  The following set of goals is intended to explain why we are focusing on this particular problem (Devils Lake), and how doing this report will contribute to your broader understanding of technical communication. 

1. You will read reports produced by engineers—there is lots of good information available on the Devils Lake controversy, making it a good option for an assignment like this one.  I think it will be useful for you to read documents produced by engineers and see the kind of work they do.

2. You will see the social and political dimensions of science and engineering.  There are no neutral set of facts in this case; every decision that could be made affects some people positively, other people negatively. 

3. In writing your recommendation report, you will become familiar with the genre of “recommendation reports.”  Many of the documents you read will also be feasibility or recommendation reports. Chances are, you will write recommendation reports as a professional engineer.

4. This assignment requires that you do a variety of kinds of research.  By all means, read the material online, but also find people to talk to (experts and the general public) about the Devils Lake situation, and perhaps conduct your own survey of opinions.    There is lots of information about the Garrison Diversion projects as a whole, but you will need to decide which information is relevant to Devils Lake specifically.

5. I am asking you to read technical documents and explain the technical components of the Devils Lake controversy to a general public.  Whatever project you are working on, you will likely need to get good at explaining technical information to non-specialists.  

6. I am asking you to design information in a way that will make the information accessible and usable.  These are two concepts we have been stressing all semester, keeping them in mind throughout this project will help you develop strategies for making a wide variety of technical documents accessible and usable.