Mission & Values

Mission and Values

Garrison Diversion Mission, Values and Guiding Principles

Recognizing that new realities demand new perspectives, the Garrison Diversion Conservancy District board of directors focused on the future and on our continuing role as a key builder of North Dakota’s water infrastructure.

The board developed specific initiatives as part of Garrison Diversion’s commitment to North Dakota’s future. The board directed efforts and resources in seven areas of responsibility: 1) federal appropriations 2) municipal, rural and industrial water supplies, 3) agriculture and high-value crops 4) Red River Valley needs 5) natural resources, 6) recreation and tourism and 7) legislative and administrative issues.

These initiatives continue to guide Garrison Diversion. As we move forward into the future, the Garrison Diversion board of directors stands united and strong in support of these important initiatives and is fully prepared to lead Garrison Diversion into implementation.

Mission:
To provide a reliable, high quality and affordable water supply to benefit the people of North Dakota.

We Value:
Working together with federal and state leaders to maintain and increase appropriations for water development in North Dakota and to create federal legislation that helps North Dakota meet its water needs.

Guiding Principles:
Appropriations for the Garrison Diversion Unit project, as authorized in the Dakota
Water Resources Act, will be difficult. Competition for federal dollars with other projects in the region and the western United States will be fierce. Garrison Diversion will work with local, state and federal agencies to help fulfill the promise of water delivery in exchange for inundation of land. Working with all interested parties, Garrison Diversion will help bring reliable, high quality and affordable water to areas of need in North Dakota.

We Value:
Municipal, rural and industrial water supplies for areas of need in North Dakota.

Guiding Principles:
Reliable, high quality and affordable water is a driving force of stabilization, future development and growth in municipal and rural areas of North Dakota. The Dakota Water Resources Act includes language authorizing continued development of Indian and non-Indian municipal, rural and industrial (MR&I) water systems. Garrison Diversion will continue to help water systems deliver needed water to homes and businesses in North Dakota through MR&I funding.

We Value:
Agriculture and irrigation research for the future development and sustainability of North Dakota.

Guiding Principles:
Garrison Diversion has worked steadily for more than 50 years in an effort to complete a water system that will assure a reliable, high quality and affordable water supply for urban, rural and industrial users while also providing future opportunities for agriculture. Through research, high-value crop production, processing and marketing, and a more active role in integrated water management, Garrison Diversion will be a resource for the future of rural North Dakota and agriculture. We can also help provide leadership for irrigation districts, development of tribal irrigation and accessing project pumping power for projects associated with the Garrison Diversion Unit project.

We Value:
Meeting the water supply needs of the Red River Valley in a timely and truthful manner.

Guiding Principles:
Garrison Diversion is the state lead and co-partner on the Red River Valley Water Supply Project Environmental Impact Study (EIS). Garrison Diversion’s role will be to help determine the best way to meet the water supply needs and provide technical support for the Red River Valley. We will be communicating with the state and delivering an accurate picture of the valley’s needs to the study partners. Garrison Diversion will also help develop a state position on North Dakota’s water needs to provide a reliable, high quality and affordable water supply to the Red River Valley.

We Value:
Natural resources as part of future opportunities for the citizens of North Dakota.

Guiding Principles:
Through collaborative partnerships with both public and private wildlife, conservation and public interests groups, Garrison Diversion will work toward enhancing and developing the state’s natural resources. This includes providing a high quality, reliable and affordable supply of water for future development, along with other resources that North Dakota residents can use to develop alternative forms of income through nature-based tourism. This, in turn, will help create positive economic and environmental developments and inspire educational opportunities that will have long-term benefits for the environment and the people of the state.

We Value:
Use and development of Garrison Diversion areas for a variety of recreational opportunities.

Guiding Principles:
As a part of our program to replace and enhance wildlife habitat, Garrison Diversion has been careful to set aside land for wildlife refuges and management areas accessible to people with a wide variety of recreational interests. Along with these lands, the Dakota Water Resources Act has increased the federal authorization for recreation development, and the board has dedicated two-tenths of its one-mill levy to our matching recreation grant program. To make full use of the recreation dollars, we are cooperating with the Bureau of Reclamation and other partners to develop a state recreation plan which examines the current recreation funding criteria to meet the changing recreation needs in North Dakota. This plan may also include the development of interpretive centers that showcase wetland and water issues in North Dakota.

We Value:
Keeping North Dakota legislation and law current with the objectives of the Garrison Diversion Conservancy District.

Guiding Principles:
Existing state legislation that governs the work of the Garrison Diversion Conservancy District may not include the mandates suggested by the reformulation of the Garrison Diversion Unit in 1986 and again in 2000 under the Dakota Water Resource Act. Working with the North Dakota legislature, Garrison Diversion will accurately match the state authority of Garrison Diversion with the federal authorization.