Proposed Walz bonding bill falls short of flood control needs in Red River Basin, managers say

Yahoo

08-02-2025

Feb. 8—Watershed managers in northwest Minnesota say they're concerned and frustrated with the level of funding Gov. Tim Walz has recommended for flood-control projects in his proposed infrastructure bill.
Walz's Capital Budget recommendations
include $5.6 million for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources' Flood Hazard Mitigation Grant Assistance Program (FHMGAP), which provides financial aid to local governments for flood control projects. That's far short of the need, according to Rob Sip, executive director of the
Red River Watershed Management Board.
The board, which is made up of several watershed districts in northwest Minnesota, helps fund and support projects to mitigate flooding and improve water quality along with addressing a variety of water-related needs.
Statewide, there's a current need for $139 million in FHMGAP funding to address flood mitigation projects, Sip said, including $48 million just in the Red River Basin.
That's a "far cry" from the $5.6 million Walz has recommended, he says.
Considering last summer's flooding in southern Minnesota, the failure of the Rapidan Dam near Mankato, flooding in northeast Minnesota and wet conditions last spring in the northwest part of the state, Sip says the "Red Board" — as it's informally known — was hoping for a better outcome in the Capital Budget.
"We were just hopeful with all (the flooding), the need would have been recognized and that maybe there would have been a bonding bill recommended of $30-some million, maybe $40 million — whatever," Sip said. "It's just frustrating, and it's like we can't get the agencies and the governor to listen to our needs."
Bonding sessions to fund infrastructure projects historically happen every other year, with funding coming from money the state borrows by issuing bonds for investors to purchase. Lawmakers failed to pass a bonding bill during the last legislative session.
In 2023, the Legislature allocated nearly $62 million to the Flood Hazard Mitigation Grant Assistance Program, Sip says, the largest allocation since the program's launch in 1987.
"But then we've had several other years, since like 2019 or so, where there hasn't been a bonding bill," he said.
Between the Red Board, member watershed districts, state funding and "some limited federal funding," more than $70 million has been invested in recent water storage and flood mitigation projects in the Red River Basin, Sip said.
"None of these projects are done," Sip said. "So, we have a bunch of bridges to nowhere. None of them are operational. None of them function yet.
"I guess if the state's OK with just not getting projects done, well then fine, but we need to get to a point where these projects are done because we have all the state investment," he added. "And I don't think there's enough awareness out there that these projects aren't done, and there's been a lot of state money pumped into them."
Among the unfinished projects in the Red River Basin is a flood control project in Newfolden to remove homeowners living on the east side of U.S. Highway 59 from the 100-year flood plain.
Work on the $12.2 million project, which includes a 396-acre impoundment north of Newfolden city limits, began last spring and is nearing completion, but $2 million is needed "to take us to the finish line," said Morteza Maher, administrator of the Middle-Snake-Tamarac Rivers Watershed District in Warren, Minnesota.
The Red River Watershed Management Board has agreed to contribute the remaining funds necessary to complete the project, but that's money that won't go to other projects in the basin, Sip said.
Other needs outlined in the Red Board's bonding request include the Nelson Slough Improvement project, also in the Middle-Snake-Tamarac Rivers Watershed District, $2 million; the Redpath Flood Impoundment in the Bois de Sioux Watershed near Wheaton, Minnesota, $13.7 million; and the Roseau Lake Rehabilitation Project in Roseau County, $9 million.
"Because there was no bonding bill (in the last legislative session), we've been planning and working through the project of, 'What can we actually fund and how can we do that?' " Sip said. "We have a lot of other financial commitments, so we fund as much as we can with the funds that are available."
Given the shortfall facing flood control projects in Walz's proposed capital spending bill, Sip said he's met with numerous Red River Valley legislators to highlight the needs.
"Our Red River Valley legislators know what we need. They get it — they understand it," Sip said. "We've done a lot of interaction with them.
"The challenge is, the bonding bill includes roads, bridges — all kinds of public infrastructure. So, we're competing against all that. It's hard to get funding when people's feet are dry."