North Dakota – North Dakota Governor Kelly Armstrong emphasized the state’s $850 million contribution to the Fargo-Moorhead Area Diversion Project during a recent event celebrating the historic rerouting of the Red River through a major control structure. This milestone is a key step in safeguarding the region’s largest metro area from severe flooding.

Armstrong called the event historic, noting it is the first time since the opening of Garrison Dam in 1953 that a river of this size has been deliberately redirected through a manmade structure in the state. He praised the project’s potential to bring increased security and prosperity to the area.

The governor acknowledged the collaboration of over 50 organizations, including 30 state, local, and federal agencies, involved in the $3.2 billion project. The diversion is notable as North America’s first public-private partnership (P3) flood management project and the first P3 civil works project with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

While officials initially planned to remove plugs in berms to redirect the river, recent heavy rainfall caused the Red River to overflow the berm naturally, filling the diversion channel ahead of schedule. To officially mark the river’s rerouting, officials opened the diversion’s tainter gates.

Scheduled for completion in 2027, the 30-mile diversion is designed to protect more than 260,000 residents in the Fargo-Moorhead metro area from a 100-year flood event.