Fargo‑Moorhead diversion update highlights DNR quarter‑mile zoning recommendation for Clay County

Eric Dodds, an AE2S consultant on the Fargo‑Moorhead diversion project, updated Clay County officials on construction progress, property acquisitions and a recent state-recommended buffer that could affect development near the southern embankment.

The recommendation of particular interest to Clay County comes from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources as part of a dam‑safety and public‑waters permit (condition number 45). Dodds said the DNR “recommends that local government units adopt requirements that no development be allowed within 1 quarter mile of the dam or along river channels.” He added the diversion authority itself does not have zoning power and has instead sent letters to affected local zoning officials — including Clay County — asking them to consider the recommendation.

The quarter‑mile suggestion matters to Clay County because a portion of the diversion’s southern embankment runs along the county line and crosses locally controlled roads and property. Dodds described the southern embankment as roughly 22 miles long, with three major control structures (the diversion inlet just south of Horace, a structure at Wild Rice near I‑29, and the Red River structure) and multiple county and township crossings in Clay County at roughly 130th, 140th, 150th and 160th streets (Comstock Road).

Construction status and land rights Dodds said the overall project was about 61% complete at the time of his briefing; the diversion channel work (P3) is about 56% complete, the…