Fargo Flood Diversion Project Continues Apace
During the February 6 special meeting of the Flood Diversion Board of Authority, Project leaders told members of Congress and the Corps of Engineers that construction is moving forward at a healthy pace.
“While we are desperately looking for Federal money, we recognize this project is too important to wait, so we are moving forward (with aspects),” said Keith Berndt, Cass County Administrator.
“We are doing a lot of construction,” Berndt continued. “We have about $100 million in the budget for additional real estate acquisition that we expect to complete this year. We also plan to do about $16 million in additional construction similar to what we did last year – this year, in Oxbow”. The Oxbow-Hickson Bakke ring levee will protect these communities from existing flooding, and will also protect against water that would be stored upstream of Fargo-Moorhead by the Diversion Project.
Also, sheet piling work has been progressing ahead of schedule related to Fargo’s in-town levees and pump stations. “Within Fargo, there are about $48.7 million in levees which are part of the Diversion Project that are planned to be constructed this year. So there is a lot happening,” concluded Berndt.
