Obama's 2011 budget includes $15 million for Fargo-Moorhead flood control

More than $15 million has been included in President Barack Obama’s 2011 budget for planning, design and engineering for a Fargo-Moorhead flood control project, Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., said during a Fargo news conference.

Dorgan also said unless Minnesota and North Dakota can form an entity to coordinate flood control in the Red River Valley, he will work to create a federal authority to identify and build water retention projects in the region.

“The only way to do that is to have a valley-wide authority to make that happen,” Dorgan said.

He was supported by Rep. Collin Peterson, D-Minn.

“This is the time that we can figure out how to make that happen,” Peterson said. “People need to back off some of their ideology. There’s going to have to be some give and take here.”

The money in the president’s budget breaks down into $15 million for planning, engineering and design, and $150,000 to finish the project feasibility study.

Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., received the president’s budget as chairman of the Senate Budget Committee.

“Though there is still heavy lifting yet to do, this is yet another positive sign of the federal government’s commitment to protecting this region from future floods,” he said in a news release.

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