The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Paul District, is committed to pursuing permanent flood risk management for the communities of Moorhead, Minnesota, and Fargo, Harwood, Horace and West Fargo, North Dakota and is anticipating awarding its first contract for the project later this month.
The contract to be awarded will build the diversion inlet, located at the junction of the diversion channel and the southern embankment near Horace, North Dakota.
Public safety is the Corps’ main concern, and more than 230,000 people live and work in the Fargo-Moorhead communities.
A failed flood fight in the metro area could result in the loss of human life, $10 billion in damages and put thousands of Minnesotans and North Dakotans out of work. As such, this project, which combines a 30-mile long diversion channel in the state of North Dakota with upstream staging, has been a top priority for the Corps and the St. Paul District.
On October 3, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources denied an application from the Diversion Authority for a permit to build portions of a federally authorized project in Minnesota.
The Minnesota DNR denied the permit based on their belief that relying on emergency measures represents a feasible, prudent, and minimal-impact alternative to provide flood protection for the Fargo-Moorhead communities.
[mappress mapid=”23097″]