Back during the violent demonstrations against the Dakota Access Pipeline one casus belli of the political extremists perpetrating them was the idea that the pipeline would disturb sacred artifacts and burial grounds along the route. This was a problematic argument because the DAPL project, through that disputed area near the Standing Rock Indian Reservation, followed an…
Audio: Congressman Cramer Talks AHCA, Says He Doubts Trump’s Budget Will Hurt Fargo Diversion Project
Senator Heidi Heitkamp is in the media claiming President Donald Trump’s budget, which reduces funding for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, could put funding for the flood diversion project in Fargo in jeopardy. Today during our weekly open phones segment on WDAY AM970 (audio below) Congressman Kevin Cramer told me he doesn’t see it…
Marcus Larson: Fargo Diversion Authority Doubling Down on a Bad Gamble
State and local taxpayers recently purchased $50,000,000.00 worth of upscale properties in Oxbow, ND, a small town 15 mile south of Fargo. The tax payer cost for these properties, more than 40 residences, averaged over one million dollars apiece (see buyout list below). Owners of the private golf course club house building, which had an…
Craig Hertsgaard: Fargo Flood Diversion Authority May Have Hit A Brick Wall In Permitting Process
The St. Paul Army Corps and the Fargo Diversion Authority (DA) say they don’t need a North Dakota state permit to build a dam and reservoir south of Fargo for their project. They sent a letter to the ND State Water Commission saying, “a dam permit is not a legal prerequisite to federal construction,” but…
Roscoe Streyle: Fargo Forum Should Stop Pitting East vs. West
The Fargo Forum describing the needs of Eastern North Dakota in a recent editorial is important, but to pit East versus West in terms of funding water projects needs correcting, because they forget to cite many facts that are important. I am proud to report that the North Dakota Legislature has supported water and flood…
Trana Rogne: Fargo Flood Diversion Buyout Or Buyoff? You Decide
Two homes bordering the City of Oxbow were recently bought out by the Cass County Joint Water Resource District (CCJWRD) as part of the FM Diversion. The properties are similar in that both are upscale residences on the Red River; both adjoin the City of Oxbow; both are outside the proposed ring dike and neither…
Oxbow Mayor Needs To Do More Than Fire Shots At "Barstool Engineers"
The Mayor of Oxbow, Jim Nyhof, has a letter to the editor of the Fargo Forum today in which he defends his position on the controversial Fargo flood diversion project. That position has evolved over the year, as his community has received the promise of a new country club and property buyouts averaging double the assessed…
Why Is The Mayor Of Oxbow Getting Almost 200 Percent Of His Property Value For A Flood Diversion Buyout?
Recently Rich Mattern, the Mayor of West Fargo, vented some spleen at Governor Jack Dalrymple and the Legislature over their priorities on water projects. Mattern pointed out that while his constituents are facing higher water bills because the state wouldn’t make money available for a new water plant, the City of Oxbow is getting a…
Craig Hertsgaard: The Dead Aren't Worth It
The Army Corps says the cost to protect the graves of those buried in cemeteries upstream of the diversion project is $14 million, and it’s not worth it. The proposed Fargo diversion will cause those cemeteries to flood. They’re wrong, and it’s sad. They have already paid more than $10 million for a clubhouse at…
Fargo's Special Assessment Vote Was A Farce
The preliminary results for Fargo’s special assessment vote are in and nobody should be shocked that, in a vote where local governments got more votes than the people and where no voters were protected by a secret ballot, the local governments got their way. For those of you just tuning in, the vote to create…