Moorhead says flood protection project to be complete in 2 years

The mayor of Moorhead said Friday that in two years, the city will complete a major flood protection effort.

The city council has approved the final phases of flood control work that started after the record flood in 2009.

Mayor Mark Voxland said by the end of 2013 the city will have purchased and removed 280 flood-prone homes and will have 12 miles of new or improved levees.

"No more 10 months of business as usual in the city of Moorhead and two months of fighting floods," Voxland said. "That's a great thing."

State dollars will cover about 70 percent of the $93 million project; local residents will pay 30 percent.

"The city will be out of the sandbag business," Voxland said. "We'll have dikes where we need them, floodwalls where we need them. We'll have homes that were consuming 10, 12, 15,000 sandbags that won't be there."

When the work is completed, the city will be protected to a flood level nearly two feet higher than the record 2009 flood.

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