Col. Sam Calkins, commander of the USACE’s St. Paul District, has signed a ‘Finding of No Significant Impact’ for an Environmental Assessment (EA) completed for the proposed Fargo, N.D./Moorhead, Minn., Metropolitan Area Flood Risk Management Project.
“This EA, called the ‘Final Supplemental Environmental Assessment #2,’ was prepared to look at changes to the project following recommendations by a taskforce assembled by the governors of Minnesota and North Dakota. These changes are commonly referred to as Plan B,” said USACE in its release.
The proposed project involves the construction of a 30-mile long diversion channel located in North Dakota that will direct floodwater around the Fargo-Moorhead metropolitan area, upstream staging of water and in-town levees.
Plan B includes allowing an additional 2 feet of water to flow through downtown Fargo-Moorhead during a 100-year flood and modifications to the alignment of the southern embankment.
The project would protect more than 200,000 people and 70 square miles of infrastructure in the communities of Fargo, Moorhead, West Fargo, Horace and Harwood, according to USACE.