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Expected near-record temperatures and rapid snow melt are increasing the risk of high water by week’s end at the Dakota Access Pipeline protest camps — and state officials are worried time is running out to prevent contamination of the rivers there.

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Maj. French Pope toured the Oceti Sakowin main protest camp Tuesday to assess the situation and determine what additional resources will be needed to complete the cleanup, started by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, camp residents and volunteers on Jan. 31.

The camp is on corps land and remains occupied by 300 to 400 people in yurts, teepees, fortified tents and other structures. Much of the camp area has been cleared out, with thousands of tons of material hauled to the landfill in the past two weeks.

Gov. Doug Burgum said the corps’ assessment is crucial to accelerating the cleanup before garbage, vehicles, structures and human waste wash into the Cannonball and Missouri rivers.

“We cannot afford to wait any longer,” Burgum said.

The National Weather Service reports that people on the Cannonball, Knife and Heart rivers’ watersheds should watch for rising water over the next several days.