Local flood projects impress visiting Minnesota lawmakers

• State Reps. Morrie Lanning and Peggy Scott

State Reps. Morrie Lanning and Peggy Scott look at a map Wednesday showing where the dike will be located in Oakport Township near Moorhead. Carrie Snyder / The Forum

Talk about it

A group of Minnesota lawmakers influential in how state dollars get spent toured water projects in the Red River Valley on Wednesday and went away wowed.

“It’s been incredibly impressive,” said Alice Hausman, a Democratic representative from St. Paul who along with colleagues stopped in Oakport Township north of Moorhead, where work is under way on a dike project spearheaded by the Buffalo-Red River Watershed District.

The $18 million project has secured about $12 million worth of funding, a large chunk of which was provided by state lawmakers last spring when the area was battling floodwaters.

Hausman, chairwoman of the House Capital Investment Committee, said trips like Wednesday’s help to keep the funding momentum going for flood-mitigation efforts around the state.

Besides Oakport, lawmakers viewed projects in communities from Wendell in the southern Red River Valley to Crookston in the north.

“We’re looking at how that last $100 million was spent because we have to be motivated to do even more,” Hausman said.

Dean Urdahl, a fellow member of the capital investment committee, agreed.

“I don’t know how big the capital investment bill is going to be this time, but I would certainly hope that water projects like flood mitigation are addressed once again,” said Urdahl, a Republican from Grove City in central Minnesota.

“What I’ve gained from a trip like this,” Urdahl said, “is a greater appreciation for what happens here when a flood occurs and a greater respect for the efforts that people put forth in trying to combat those floods.”

Patti Kratky, Carol Kuehl and Margaret Haglund were among several Oakport residents on hand when the lawmakers’ bus stopped north of Moorhead.

All three said they were happy to see dike work start this summer, even though full funding for the project is still lacking.

“We take it as it comes,” said Haglund, who has lived in the area for 38 years.

She said water has never reached her home, but during the flood of 1997 water pressure in the ground caused the walls of her basement to collapse.

The walls are now reinforced with I-beams.

“I don’t think they will ever move again, that would be my hope,” Haglund said.

Rep. Morrie Lanning, R-Moorhead, who is a member of the House Capital Investment Committee, said Oakport’s experience has shown that local governments can’t always count on funding from federal agencies such as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which studied Oakport for many years before deciding a federal dike project was not justified.

“We’ve got to come up with our own plans and not just sit back and wait for the corps, because we may find ourselves behind again,” Lanning said.

Minnesota House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher, a Democrat from Minneapolis, said trips like Wednesday’s can inspire lawmakers.

“We often prayed on the House floor during the flood last spring,” she said.

“This is prayers into action. This is the action that people have been waiting for,” she said.

“I think I can sell that back in St. Paul,” Kelliher added.

Readers can reach Forum reporter Dave Olson at (701) 241-5555

Tags: oakport township, communities, news, flood, fargo, moorhead