Fish and Wildlife Service Seeks Local Funds for Valley Flood Model
FERGUS FALLS, Minn. (AP)-- The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is appealing to local governments and agencies in the Red River Valley to help finance a computer model to predict flooding and runoff throughout the valley. The agency sent letters about the proposed four-year, $800,000 project last week to 125 potential partners in the Red River Valley.
The proposal grew out of the 1997 flood. "The flood generated much interest in minimizing the impact from future floods and identifying effective means of water control and management," said Rollin Siegfried, complex manager at the Fish and Wildlife Service's office in Fergus Falls. He said levees and other physical structures are effective at keeping water from key urban areas, but they may be too expensive for protecting rural residents and farmland.
Collaborating on the proposal were the U.S. Geological Survey and the Fish and Wildlife Service, which has committed $50,000 for start-up costs. The Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center, under the Biological Survey of the Geological Survey, will provide statistical support and in-kind services.
The computer model would quantify various resources, such as urban areas, farmland, grasslands and wetlands, and predict runoff for the entire watershed. As an example, the model could help determine the degree of protection currently provided by lands idled by the Conservation Reserve Program, and to assess the potential increase in flood protection if additional acres were enrolled or taken out, Siegfried said.
