DNR has concerns with $2B Red River flood diversion project

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources says it has concerns about the Red River flood diversion designed to protect Fargo, N.D., and Moorhead, Minn.

The agency on Monday released the final environmental impact statement (EIS) on the $2 billion flood control project.

It's not a yes or no document. But it does raise questions about how the project will affect the environment and residents.

The diversion will cause environmental and social impacts that need to be addressed, DNR commissioner Tom Landwehr said. "We think there's still some serious unanswered questions about mitigation," he said.

A primary concern is that a dam designed to hold back flood water and divert it into a channel will flood land that doesn't flood now, Landwehr said.

Minimizing harm to landowners is a key issue for the DNR.

The biggest issue may be socioeconomic rather than environmental, said Randall Doneen, supervisor of agency's environmental review unit.

"Rural communities, the agricultural areas that see either increased flood inundation or be inundated where they previously weren't under flooding conditions," he said.

The diversion would use a dam to hold back floodwater and divert the water to a 36-mile channel around Fargo. As a result, land upstream would flood.

Fargo-Moorhead Diversion Authority officials say they were already working on ways to mitigate issues raised by the DNR.

Some of the concerns raised by the DNR are new, says Darrell Vanyo, chair of the diversion authority. "However, they're nothing that we weren't intending to address anyway," he said.

When the public review concludes in late May, the DNR will decide whether the EIS is adequate. If the EIS is deemed adequate, the permitting process follows. That's the point where the DNR will approve or deny the project.

Fargo-Moorhead officials say they still hope to start construction late this year.