Corps 2016 Work Plan Moves Fargo, N.D., Dike Forward

A planned $2-billion flood-control project for the Fargo, ND-Moorhead, MN, metro area allocates $5 million worth of construction funding from the US Army Corps of Engineers in its 2016 work plan, said Terry Williams, corps project manager in St. Paul. During major floods, the project will temporarily store up to 150,000 acre-ft of floodwater immediately upstream of the diversion-channel inlet to minimize downstream impacts, the Corps said. Upstream communities, however, dispute that strategy. Days after the release of the work plan, the 8th US Circuit Court of Appeals, in St. Paul, heard arguments over whether to allow construction to move forward on a diversion-related ring levee, south of Fargo, says Gerald Von Korff, attorney for the Richland Wilkins Joint Powers Authority.