WINNIPEG - Manitoba Premier Gary Doer is offering to cut a deal with North Dakota over a cross-border water dispute.
Doer says he's willing to improve drainage around a road just north of the border if North Dakota will put an improved filter on its outlet from Devils Lake.
North Dakota Governor John Hoeven says the 48-kilometre-long road acts as a dike, backing up water onto the U.S. side near Pembina and flooding a lot of land.
The road is already the subject of a court battle, and Hoeven is asking the U.S. State Department to press the Canadian government on the issue.
Doer says he's willing to invest in better drainage if North Dakota will address his concerns about water being drained from Devils Lake, which eventually flows into Manitoba.
Doer is worried the water may contain parasites and other harmful organisms and says a filter that North Dakota has put on the lake's outlet is inadequate.
