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Ashley leads on water issues

SRJB chairman dedicated to basinwide fl ood protection

By JILL SCHRAMM

Senior Staff Writer jschramm@minotdailynews.com aving dedicated more than 20 years to water management, David Ashley has earned recognition as a leader and champion for flood protection for northcentral North Dakota. “My book is full in terms of things I’ve seen, things I’ve done, and it’s been good, but it’s been challenging, too,” he said.

The Voltaire-area farmer and rancher has served as chairman of the Souris River Joint Board for the past 10 years, helping to oversee a billion-dollar, basinwide flood protection project. He also is chairman and longtime member of the McHenry County Water Resource Board.

Ashley traces his drive to improve water management back to his great-grandfather HT Lee, who during the 1930s helped some people survive a drought by providing hay.

“He’s also documented historically as one of the founders of flood irrigation for that area of the basin,” Ashley said. “I guess I credit him somewhat for my desire to do this. He was a pioneering individual.”

Along with the influence of his great-grandfather, Ashley was moved to get involved in water management because of the 1969 Souris River flood that affected his family farm.

“I can still remember some of the scenes and issues from the ‘69 flood, even though I wasn’t very old at that time,” he said.

Ashley, who earned an economics degree at North Dakota State University, particularly became interested in flood protection after taking up full-time farming. He realized that flood protection implemented in response to the 1969 event offered no protection for rural areas.

He also noticed that individual rural residents wanted different things, and that lack of consensus led to limited response to their concerns. He joined the McHenry County Water Resource Board in about 2000 as a way to try to make a difference. He also became involved on the state executive board of the North Dakota Water Resource District Association, serving as president for a time.

“That led me to opportunities to participate and to tell the story as best I could in numerous legislative committees,” he said. He was able to work with various policy committees locally and statewide.

In 2002, he joined the Souris River Joint Board, whose mission was to monitor dike repairs. After the 2011 flood, that mission expanded considerably when the board became the overseeing agency, working with the state, to develop the Mouse River Enhanced Flood Protection Project. It was at that time Ashley was tapped to be chairman. It was a weighty decision to accept the post, he said.

it’s been good, but it’s been challenging, too,” he said. VOLTAIRE

In explanation, he tells the story behind a picture hanging in his house of a young girl looking down Minot’s flooded Fourth Avenue toward the Dairy Queen. Looking at the floodwater, she asked her aunt if she would ever get to the Dairy Queen again. When assured she would, she asked about her great-grandmother who lived on that street. Then she asked about her pony and grandparents on the farm and her friends.

“How is this all going to be taken care of?” she asked. Her aunt reassured her that her grandfather was on the water board and he would do his best.

Ashley’s granddaughter piped up, “Well, he better get to work!”

“That’s one of the reasons I took the chairmanship on,” Ashley said. “If this little 5-yearold girl – I don’t care who she was – can think that big about basinwide and the big picture, all of us better be able to.”

From the beginning, Ashley pushed the SRJB’s plan for a basinwide project, including looking at updated river management.

“I pushed for the international plan of study – pushed hard – to give it the highest level of research that can be done at the three tiers, and I wanted the highest level because there’s no question about it. We’re going to get some rural thoughts into this. We have to look at the whole basin, and that includes Saskatchewan, North Dakota and Manitoba,” he said. “I wasn’t going to back down from that. Neither was the board.”

Ashley, who represents SRJB on an agency advisory group to the International Souris River Board, is unrelenting regarding a basinwide approach in speaking to officials at all levels. He once told federal officials that if flood protection only took an urban perspective, “it’s going to plug up and it’s going to stink like a backed up sewer.” Although the analogy generated chuckles, it also sold the message.

Minot Public Works Director Dan Jonasson, who represents the City of Minot on the SRJB, attests to Ashley’s commitment to the overall project.

“He has the big picture view all the time,” Jonasson said. “He always keeps that picture in mind, making sure that everybody is being included and we are looking at flood protection for the rural areas and the urban areas.”

Submitted Photo

David Ashley, chairman of the Souris River Joint Board, and Col. Daniel Koprowski, St. Paul District commander for the U.S. Army Corps, sign a cost-sharing agreement on a basinwide study for fl ood protection on May 6, 2016, in Minot. From left with their titles at the time are Congressman Kevin Cramer, Sen. John Hoeven, Minot Mayor Chuck Barney, Koprowski, Ashley, Gov. Jack Dalrymple and Sen. Heidi Heitkamp.

Submitted Photo

David Ashley, chairman of the Souris River Joint Board, left, and Sen. John Hoeven prepare to don hard hats for a ceremonial ground-breaking March 28, 2018, for the Mouse River Enhanced Flood Protect Project construction in Minot.

Jonasson also noted the tremendous amount of time Ashley devotes as an unpaid volunteer.

“It’s an extreme dedication toward the Souris River Joint Board and all water-related issues,” he said.

Ashley said his family’s personal experience with the 2011 Souris River flood has fueled that dedication.

“Our facilities were destroyed. We had to sell our livestock herd because there’s no way we can get it back together after the flood impact. All we could keep was a few heifer calves,” he said. “We had to build the operation back from that.

“I can so relate to the person that’s sitting across the table just mad as heck at me about what’s going on because I can understand,” he added. “Mainly, I’d like to do more for people and there’s a limit in what’s physically possible to do, especially in the rural areas.”

He has found himself serving as counselor, mathematician and engineer, even though he says he’s none of the above.

“It’s extremely challenging. But it’s also extremely rewarding to work with some people who are really trying to come up with solutions,” Ashley said. “If you have an issue, wherever it came from, my approach and the joint board’s approach is, OK, let’s find a solution to that problem. If you can find a consensus, we will work to find that solution. I think that’s very good that we are in that position to at least do that.”

Ashley is quick to acknowledge engineers, City of Minot staff and SRJB members for coming up with solutions and tools necessary to accomplish the work. He also appreciates the support of family, who accept without complaint his frequent absences to travel and to attend meetings.

SRJB member Clif Issendorf, Newburg, said Ashley is public-minded, taking everyone’s views into consideration.

“Consequently, because of his leadership and his abilities to put different aspects of a project together, that’s one of the reasons Minot is moving forward at the speed it is with flood protection,” he said.

Maurice Foley, a long-time member of various water boards over the years, said there’s no better person to chair the SRJB than Ashley. He does the research, challenges the engineers, expertly engages the public at meetings and exercises patience, even when getting calls at home or hearing from upset landowners, Foley said.

“He’s really an outstanding individual,” he said. “He’s good on his feet, a good speaker and when he says something, he means it.”

Most importantly, he added, Ashley gets the job done.

Getting things done is what Ashley defines as his primary goal. Sometimes he would like to see things get done faster when it comes to flood protection, but he voiced appreciation for state funding that keeps the project advancing.

Ashley said a book could be written on what he has seen over the years.

“There’s a lot of things involved with water,” Ashley said. “It’s also the most contentious of topics, whether it’s flood control, water delivery, you name it.”

He said the opportunity to help alleviate some of that tension was another reason he has been drawn to working with water issues.

“The end goal is just to do the best job and make sure that everybody acknowledges more than just ‘I’m affected.’ Everybody in the basin is affected by a decision made, and we’ve got to try and make those decisions right,” he said.