Hoeven Passed 17th Piece of Legislation Advancing First-in-the-Nation Flood Protection Project, Using Federal Savings to Reduce Local Costs

FARGO, N.D. – Senator John Hoeven today marked the signing of the new Project Partnership Agreement (PPA) between the Fargo-Moorhead Diversion Authority and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The new PPA is required to implement Hoeven’s legislation directing the Corps to apply federal savings toward reducing the local cost share for flood protection in the Red River Valley, the 17th piece of legislation passed by the senator to advance the project. As a result, $100 million has been distributed to the local project sponsor and additional funding will be distributed as the project closes out. Hoeven stressed the importance of the public-private partnership (P3) model in making these savings a reality: The Red River Valley flood protection was the first major Army Corps project in the nation to utilize the P3 model, which kept the project on-time and under budget. Under the standard Army Corps approach, the federal government would have been responsible for constructing the entire project, a method that has frequently caused delays and cost overruns for projects around the country. Instead, the P3 model allowed the Corps and local sponsor to construct various aspects of the project concurrently, significantly improving the project timeline. Further, Hoeven secured the full $750 million federal cost share up front in 2022, which enabled the Army Corps to complete its share of the work ahead of schedule and at a cost far lower than $750 million. Accordingly, Hoeven passed legislation to accelerate the transfer of the remaining balance to the Fargo-Moorhead Diversion Authority to be used for ongoing construction of the local portion of the project. By receiving this $100 million now, the local sponsor will be able to complete its work at a much lower cost to taxpayers. “With today’s new Project Partnership Agreement signed, we are nearly across the finish line on delivering comprehensive flood protection for the entire Fargo-Moorhead region. More than that, we are delivering savings to local taxpayers, as the new PPA implements my legislation, the 17th piece of legislation we passed for this project, to transfer excess federal funding to the FM Diversion Authority, starting with today’s $100 million payment,” said Hoeven. “This project has been a colossal task, spread across multiple federal agencies, states and localities, and I appreciate all of our partners for working to move this first-in-the-nation P3 project toward completion. By divvying up the work between the Corps and the local sponsor, we kept this project on-time and under budget, a truly remarkable accomplishment when you look at the challenges faced by similar projects around the country.” -###-