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Statewide Blog
Dan Gunderson

Fargo Moorhead flood diversion moves forward

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The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is taking one final round of public comments on a proposed $1.8 billion 36 mile flood diversion project to protect Fargo Moorhead.

The comment period closes Nov. 7.

In December, the Corps of Engineers is expected to approve the project. That would set the stage for a challenging effort to convince Congress to commit some $800 million to the project.

The local share is a staggering $979 million. Minnesota's share of that is estimated to be around $350 million.

The Corps has pulled together an amazing amount of data in developing this project.

Some interesting tidbits: The Red River at Fargo Moorhead has exceeded flood stage every year since 1993.

In the Fargo Moorhead area, local governments have spent $342 million on permanent flood protection since 1990, including buying more than 500 homes in flood prone areas. Moorhead officials this week approved a new $37 million plan to do still more improvements. Even with all those improvements the communities are still susceptible to any flood a foot or two higher than the record flood of 2009.

The Corps estimates a catastrophic flood could cause up to $10 billion in damages.

The proposed diversion project will likely go to congress for authorization and funding early next year. Everyone agrees federal funding will be difficult. In fact, Fargo Mayor Dennis Walaker gives the project a less than 50 percent chance of being built.