11.17.15

Hoeven Working on Appropriations Committee to Ensure Funding, Authorization for Corps Minot Flood Study

Senator Meets with Minot Mayor to Advance Flood Protection for Minot Region

WASHINGTON – Senator John Hoeven Monday met with Minot Mayor Chuck Barney and City Manager Lee Staab to advance flood protection for Minot and the Souris River Basin. The Senator, who serves on the Appropriations Committee, worked to make sure there is funding and authorization in the 2016 Energy and Water Appropriations bill for the Army Corps of Engineers to conduct a Minot flood protection study. A study by the Corps is necessary, Hoeven said, to determine the scope of comprehensive flood protection needed to keep the city and region safe.

Two weeks ago, Hoeven made the case for a permanent flood protection project in Minot with key decision-makers, including Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works Jo-Ellen Darcy, Army Corps Chief of Engineers Lieutenant General Thomas P. Bostick and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Shawn Donovan. City officials were in Washington Monday to follow up with them and convey the hardship and extent of damage the community experienced in the 2011 flood. Hoeven also organized a meeting for Minot officials to present their case to Bostick earlier this year.

“The Corps and OMB are working with us and two weeks ago indicated they are supportive of the flood protection study for Minot,” Hoeven said. “We’ve worked on the Appropriations Committee to get language in the 2016 Energy and Water funding bill to make sure the Corps has the authority and funding necessary to move the project forward. That’s vital for Minot and the Souris River Basin, which are working hard to develop and build comprehensive flood protection. The next hurdle we have is to make sure the Energy and Water Appropriations bill passes.”

Hoeven Monday also arranged a meeting for the city officials with the majority staff of the Senate Appropriations Committee on Energy and Water, which Hoeven serves on. During the meeting with majority committee staff, Barney and Straab had an opportunity to review the impact of the 2011 flood in Minot and provide an overview of the city’s efforts to upgrade the flood protection infrastructure in the community. 

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