Congress Approves Federal Funding for Red River Flood Diversion

After seven long years of planning, the Red River Diversion project has the official green light.

Fargo-Moorhead city officials gathered to make the big the announcement this evening.
 
Local officials say this news is truly a marker in history for the Red River Valley.
 
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has officially approved the diversion as one of the six projects that will begin construction this year.

It will receive THE $5 million that Congress appropriated for 2016, although it’s not clear how that money will be used.

Moorhead Mayor Del Rae Williams says receiving the additional funds is a milestone for advancing the diversion.

“I don’t know if it would have happened necessarily without the federal funding as a part of it. So once they’ve got into the amount even if it’s five million, there in line for getting other funding,” said Mayor Del Rae Williams.
 
Despite the many factors that still need to be ironed out, Fargo Mayor Tim Mahoney says it’s a great day for the metro.

“This is tremendous. When we started the project and start work on the project we had no idea wither we’d ever get to this point. So this is a very exciting day,” said Mayor Tim Mahoney.
 
City officials will have until September 30th to have a construction plan in place.

They say they hope to break ground on the project by this fall.