Northwest Minnesota flood projects and FM Diversion needs outlined to bonding committee

The House Capital Investment Committee heard March 20 from watershed managers, county officials and mayors seeking bonding to finish flood hazard mitigation projects in Northwest and west‑central Minnesota.

Speakers described multi‑purpose flood impoundments, levees, ring dikes and completed but not certified diversion components they said are essential to reducing flood risk for farms, towns and regional infrastructure.

Robert Sipp, executive director of the Red River Watershed Management Board, asked for roughly $48,600,000 to fund several larger impoundments and city projects in the Red River Basin. He said the projects together would create “100,000 acre‑feet of new water storage on the landscape,” provide water‑quality benefits (he estimated annual sediment reductions “just over 17,000 tons”), and were about half completed and half funded.

Chad Engles, a registered professional engineer representing the Boy de Sioux Watershed District, described a project already under construction — the Redpath impoundment and Mariska River rehabilitation — and said it is a $61,000,000 project that is roughly 60% complete. Engles said the project has spent $36,500,000 to date and requested $13,700,000 to finish construction over two more seasons.

Clay County Commissioner Jenny Monjo and Mayor Shelly Carlson of Moorhead appeared with Representatives Jim Joy and Peg Keeler to describe House File 2,224, a request for $60,400,000 to complete flood mitigation work in Moorhead, Clay County and the Minnesota portions of the FM Diversion Project. Monjo said the diversion is 65% complete overall, has federal and North Dakota funding committed, and that the Minnesota portion must finish levees, lift stations and other mitigation to secure FEMA certification and reduce high flood‑insurance premiums for residents.

Carrie Nitsky, executive director of Area 2 Minnesota River Basin Projects, asked for $1,500,000 for floodplain mitigation and a continuation of a longstanding program that builds upstream retention projects on the Buffalo Ridge, which she said reduces downstream runoff velocity and erosion. Nitsky described Area 2’s approach as voluntary and locally matched; she said previous state bonding has required high local match rates and that Area 2 projects have a long record of local leverage.

Witnesses repeatedly emphasized that many projects are multi‑partner efforts with partial federal, state and local funding already in place. Several witnesses asked the committee to consider the cost escalation risk of interrupting work on partially completed construction projects. Committee members asked about local levying authority for watershed districts, past Outdoor Heritage and Clean Water Fund matches for habitat elements, and how funding packages would be combined to finish projects already under construction.