Mr. Speaker, first I would like to say that it is a little frustrating. I understand that the initial solution was to put in an advanced filter, which would have cost approximately $20 million to $22 million. My understanding is that with new technology the filter now would cost somewhere around $7 million or $8 million. The U.S. has spent $350 million on flooding costs and $450 million on the overall damages, so $7 million does not seem to be an enormous amount of money to spend on this. That is my first comment.
With regard to the water rising, this is very abnormal, I am told. I have read that over the last 10,000 years water may have drained into the Red River basin on several occasions, but at very low levels.
It is a huge issue. I understand the U.S. has to do something about it and I do think that both our countries have to understand and sympathize with North Dakota. At the same time, if $7 million is the cost of the solution, I cannot believe that between our two countries, two of the richest countries in the world, there is not a solution at hand.