After Fargo’s 2009 record flood fight when the community mobilized to sandbag and the city came within inches of disaster leaders knew a permanent solution was no longer optional.
Dr. Dennis D. Truax talks with civil engineer Joel Paulsen, former Executive Director of the Fargo–Moorhead Flood Diversion Authority, about the Fargo–Moorhead Diversion Project: a $3B+ infrastructure effort combining federal, state, local, and private financing including a historic public-private partnership (P3) with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
They explore the project’s scope, the risk-management strategy behind the delivery model, the upstream landowner challenges, and why stable funding is often the difference between a project that’s approved and one that’s actually built.
Why Fargo floods: flat terrain + north-flowing river + spring melt
1997 Grand Forks and the wake-up call for Fargo
2009 record flood fight and near-loss event
The diversion concept + flood control gates and structures
Funding reality: appropriations, cost-benefit, and why innovation mattered
P3 pilot project: how the delivery model was split
Local sales tax + bi-state joint powers authority
Rural impacts: litigation, mitigation, easements, and relocation
Measurable benefits: floodplain removal + insurance + economic growth
Leadership takeaway: never take no for an answer
