Red River Diversion Authority tells corps to advance its plans

Fargo, ND (WDAY TV) - The Red River Diversion Authority board has given the Army Corps of Engineers permission to move ahead with the project that includes a ring dike around a staging area south of Fargo.

Plans are for the $1.8 billion channel around Fargo and Moorhead to include a levee around some homes in the communities of Hickson, Bakke and Oxbow. The staging area would flood about 200,000 acres when the diversion is used.

Some residents in that area have complained about the project and the proposed ring levee, although Oxbow mayor Jim Nyhoff says 62% of residents in his town favor the dike. Other options are being discussed and the authority will make the final decision on the ring levee at an April meeting.

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