As the local media and city official were running around in hysteria begging for sandbaggers and ginning up anxiety over potential flooding in Fargo, ND ~ Oxbow, ND Mayor Jim Nyhof seemed pleased to send more water towards Fargo as Fargo approached its April 8, 2019 crest – despite little chance of internal flooding at Oxbow and available capacity in one or more staging and storage ponds.
The original Oxbow, Hickson, Bakke (OHB) ring dike, renovations, relocations and buyouts were estimated to cost $65 million.
As of February 2019 just the relocations and buyouts total over $61.5 million with the OHB project currently over budget (+103.45 percent) at $132+ million with over $32 million going to the member only Oxbow Country Club with the potential of an additional of $30 million in costs to complete the OHB project.
After $130 million in buyouts and betterments – the following email illustrates the entitled vacuum that Oxbow Mayor Jim Nyhof and his ilk operate within.
| From: Oxbow City Auditor Date: Apr 5, 2019 8:54 AM Subject: River update To: Oxbow City Auditor Cc:Good morning Residents,Please see the email below from the Mayor.Residents, At 6:00 am this morning we reached our 4th projection crest in the 2019 flood of 34.2 ft . Water flowing out the south culvert of Hwy 81 is way down and still moving. The main outlet along Riverbend is still pushing water into the river channel. South ponds are lowering to normal levels with about 6 inches to go. North pond system is in great shape. We will continue running the pumps from the south ponds forcing water out of the city. The holding pond west of Hwy 81 operated successfully yesterday pumping water out into the river channel. With that success we will be finalize the opening of the north culvert under Hwy 81 so the standing water in the east side of the ditch can flow into the holding pond. Water level will stay high for a few days given the warmer weekend weather and forecasted rainfall Sunday. If anyone sees anything that does not look right, do not hesitate to give me a call. Enjoy the weekend, maybe even fire up the grill!! Jim Nyhof – Mayor – City of Oxbow |
Corresponding USGS Red River Gage at Fargo, ND
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Isn’t the purpose of the holding ponds to keep water from going towards Fargo until after the crest there has gone down? After all the funds spent to protect your homes, you just shove the water onto someone else?
I drove down to Oxbow right before the crest, or the day the Red was supposed to crest in Fargo on Sunday, April 6th. I was shocked to see the new holding ponds on the west side of Hwy 85 were completely or almost dry. Now, I guess I don’t understand the entire purpose of that area, but I thought it would be to hold some water back.