Fargo’s flood solution: 10 years, $1.3 billion

March 23, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

Associated Press

FARGO, N.D.

The Red River Valley’s battle with major flooding for the second straight year has intensified the push for a solution that doesn’t rely on thousands of volunteers and millions of sandbags.

Local governments say the best option is a 36-mile-long channel, but the project’s $1.3 billion cost and long construction timetable means that spring flooding is likely to remain a headache for another decade.

“I don’t think Fargo wants to keep having national news about how it’s flooding every year,” said Russ Richards, who needed 12,000 sandbags to protect his home last year.

The Red River crested Sunday at just under 19 feet over flood stage. The flooding didn’t cause any major damage this year — partly thanks to the more than 1.5 million sandbags stacked along the river — but it still submerged farm fields, parks and back yards. Water surrounded some homes in rural areas.

As the river was still on the rise last week, a task force of officials on both sides of the North Dakota-Minnesota border settled on the diversion channel as their preferred solution to protect a metro area of 200,000 people.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which will manage the final project, said the federal government would cover $565 million of the costs, leaving state and local governments to pay about $735 million. The spirit is there, especially since local governments are already dealing with the costs of flooding. The city of Fargo alone has spent nearly $31 million for flood fighting and cleanup since 1997, including an estimated $3 million this year, Fargo finance director Kent Costin said.