Richland-Wilkin Joint Powers Authority
Original Publication Date:
April 18, 2013
Wahpeton Daily News
Republished with permission from:
Trana Rogne, Board Member of the MnDak Upstream Coalition.
“Diversion Schedule Unchanged” in the opinion section of the Fargo Forum Friday April 12th, brought to mind the old adage of whistling in the dark while walking past the graveyard. There are approximately ** 1000 authorized feasibility studies and 60 billion dollars’ worth of unfunded projects lying in the graveyard of “approved” Army Corps projects.
There is no specific authorization of the FM project in the proposed Water Resource Development Act (WRDA). Rather the WRDA Bill would add this project to the back log of all the current projects for which there is a record of decision. There is no money for any similar “on river projects” in the nation.
For those people who believe the US House of Representatives will increase spending, look at the other projects which also have not received federal funding. The FM Diversion is just one more un-achievable, un-fund-able development plan. The omission of any funding in the President’s budget last week only supports this belief. The FM Diversion Project is just another unfunded government mandate or subsidy that is simply not feasible. The achievable is 42.5 foot protection at a realistic cost of 250 million.
In the meantime, the images of well-meaning volunteers feeding the sand bagging machines will re-occur until Fargo builds the 42.5 in town levees and this project runs out of steam.
This is one more chapter in the ongoing saga of failed attempts by Fargo to convert taxpayer dollars into developer dollars.
** Cited Source: March 22nd, 2013 CRS Report R41243
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