Forum editorial: Flood fight might get new tools

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As flood jitters take hold of the people of the Red River Valley, at least one thing is certain: Officials of Fargo, Moorhead and other flood-prone cities know how to fight floods. They have been tested again and again. They have developed data bases and flood-fighting techniques over decades of living with the Red River and its tributaries. They have won the admiration and support of the citizens they represent, as shown by the amazing volunteer mobilizations that were crucial to holding back the water in 1997 and 2009.

In that context, flood fighters are being inundated with all manner of pitches to help the region fight what looks to be a major flood in just a few weeks. Some of the offers have promise; others appear to be of marginal value, at best.

As a result of Fargo-Moorhead’s status as flood capital of the Upper Midwest, the area is becoming a hotbed for testing new flood-fighting techniques and equipment. Local officials plan to invite vendors to demonstrate their flood solutions after Friday’s flood forecast. But several pitches already have been made:

• A firm with flood-fighting experience in Europe has a system of levees and floodwalls that, the company says, could have handled last year’s 40.84-foot record Red River flood crest with 40 miles of barriers at a cost of $600 million.

• Another company sells an impressive mobile machine that makes long sand tubes that can be stacked like sandbags, but in less time and with less labor.

• A system of large boxes filled with sand was used with limited success in last year’s flood, and is again being pitched to the city.

“They are coming out of the woodwork,” said Fargo Mayor Dennis Walaker. He cautioned, however, that the city won’t purchase any flood-fighting technology without demonstrations of effectiveness. And after years of dealing with high water, Walaker and his Fargo team and Moorhead Mayor Mark Voxland and his team know what is effective and what is not.

Spring flood nervousness is rising with the depth of the region’s snow cover. In all likelihood, Friday’s flood forecast will be bad news. Early indications are that water content of the snowpack in the Red’s vast watershed is more than was measured last year at this time. But everyone in the metro flood zone can rest a little easier because officials are assessing all flood-fighting options, including new technologies that could make a difference.

Forum editorials represent the opinion of Forum management and the newspaper’s Editorial Board.

Tags: opinion, editorials, flood