LaMoure Lagoon Wastewater Treatment Plant, LaMoure, North Dakota

LaMoure Lagoon is a municipal wastewater treatment facility located on State Highway 13 in LaMoure, LaMoure County, North Dakota. The plant serves a small population of 889 residents, typical of rural communities in the Great Plains region. As a lagoon-based secondary treatment system, it relies on natural biological processes to treat wastewater before discharge. The plant has a designed capacity of 416.39 cubic meters per day and currently treats an average daily flow of 189.27 cubic meters, indicating it operates well below capacity. Under the US Clean Water Act, secondary treatment is the minimum standard for municipal wastewater, and the plant's performance is regulated through the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permitting program administered by the North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality. The treated effluent from LaMoure Lagoon is discharged to local surface waters that ultimately drain into the James River basin, a tributary of the Missouri River system. The James River flows south through North Dakota and South Dakota before joining the Missouri River near Yankton, South Dakota. This watershed supports agricultural irrigation, livestock watering, and aquatic habitats for species such as walleye and channel catfish.

The plant discharges into the James River watershed, which flows into the Missouri River and eventually the Mississippi River and Gulf of Mexico. The receiving waters support diverse aquatic life and are used for recreation and agriculture. Downstream ecosystems include wetlands and riparian zones that benefit from nutrient removal provided by secondary treatment.