Diversion authority board approves debris-removal and restoration subcommittee

The Metro Flood Diversion Authority on March 1 approved a resolution to create a debris-removal and property-damage restoration subcommittee, staff said. The resolution — recommended to the board by the lands committee — implements a provision of the project’s settlement agreement that anticipates a standing group to plan post-operation debris cleanup and property-damage restoration.

Legal and land-management staff told the board the subcommittee will include at least two agricultural producers from the upstream coalition, one member recommended by the Cass County Joint Water Resource District, one recommended by the MCCJPA, three members recommended by the Land Management Committee (at least two with technical experience), and two members from the Richland-Wilkin County JPA who are active agricultural producers in the staging area. The subcommittee chair and vice chair will be elected by that committee and its meetings will be subject to open-meeting laws.

Staff presented a proposed timeline that assumes board approval: over the next several months the subcommittee would develop a final debris-removal and cleanup plan, with Land Management and full-board approvals expected by November and program implementation tied to turnover for operations (targeted for March according to staff timelines).

Board members voted by roll call to approve the resolution. The lands committee had recommended the subcommittee at its recent meeting, and staff said the group’s work will inform the authority’s post-operation cleanup procedures and the crop-loss program.

The board’s approval does not itself fund restoration work; staff said the subcommittee will develop plans and budget recommendations that will return to the land-management committee and the full board for any required funding approvals.