It was a cold and windy January evening as headlights crawled across the frozen Red River Valley for miles and converged on the HWY 75 and Clay 2 intersection just west of Comstock, MN.
It was one of those rare moments that catches you off guard and you realize the sheer volume of affected area residents who are willing to abandon the warmth of their homes and evening routines to discover a few sensible alternatives to the proposed Fargo Dam and FM Diversion.
Collin Peterson, U.S. Representative for Minnesota’s 7th congressional district, addressed the gathering and touched on the WRRDA and Farm bills. Collin Peterson being one of three common sense votes against the WRRDA bill cited two distinct reasons for voting against the WRRDA (WRDA) bill.
- • It did not include re-authorization for the Roseau, MN diversion project.
- • The controversy surrounding the proposed Fargo Dam and FM Diversion project.
Which raises a fair question. Millions were spent on the Roseau, MN diversion project that now sits idle, un-funded with no re-authorization in the immediate future. Could this be the fate of the proposed Fargo Dam and FM Diversion as costs escalate? The original Garrison diversion project suffered the same fate and sits idle without providing one benefit of its stated purpose, yet millions of tax dollars were poured into the ill-fated project.
Fargo, ND is gambling with the lives and properties of Fargo residents in their
fiscally irresponsible land grab of the last natural flood plain south of the city.
Neighboring city Moorhead, MN is on track to completing permanent flood protection to 44 feet in 2014 for approximately $1.5 billion less than the “pork barrel” Fargo Diversion Authority floodplain development plan. Five years and nearly one-third of the tax dollars needed to complete permanent internal flood protection for Fargo, ND has been frittered away leaving residents exposed to potential flood impacts where neighboring Moorhead, MN has taken sensible steps to protect its residents, tax payers and businesses.
Fargo Diversion Authority committee members, Rodger Olson (Cass County Joint Water Resource District Manager) and Brad Wimmer (Fargo City Commissioner) were visibly frustrated by their inability to control factual alternatives. Alternatives that shed some light of how the Fargo Diversion Authority has been withholding and obfuscating solutions that would reduce irresponsible relocation of water impacts for the development plans cited in the US Army Corps of Engineers FEIS.
From a political standpoint, Fargo’s attempt to move impacts onto property owners outside city limits and away from voting constituency while simultaneously preventing impacted stakeholders from having a non-conflict of interest vote at the table – underscores the greed and corrupt nature of the proposed project at hand.
January 23rd, 2014 Presentation Materials:
Media Handout – 15 kb
Diversion and Distributed Retention – 503 kb
Northern Inlet Presentation January 2014 – 7.5 mb
Read Full → MN DNR Letter to Darrell Vanyo – Fargo Diversion Authority Chair
Read more → JPA presents alternative – Wahpeton Daily News – By Matthew Liedke
Views: 440
A north of the Wild Rice/Red River location for the southern inlet to the FM Diversion, coupled with 20 percent distributed retention upstream, would produce the exact same level of protection for Fargo Metro, while saving over $200 million tax payer dollars as Oxbow, Comstock and Wolverton would not be flooded, Richland and Wilkin would not be flooded. No dam on the Wild Rice would be necessary. The whole RR Basin would benefit with lower flood peaks on the Red River.
The only difference for Fargo is that the undeveloped natural flood plain in Cass County south of the Metro would be preserved for natural water storage, not drained just so Fargo can compete with Moorhead and West Fargo for future development.
Fargo and the Diversion Authority’s response to this proposal will demonstrate to everyone the intent of Fargo leaders. Is this really about flood protection or is it about development? Anyone care to predict Fargo’s response?
Read more:
↳ JPA presents alternative – Wahpeton Daily News – By Matthew Liedke
Read the whole story and then make the call on the Fargo media.
Great article.