Fargo-Moorhead Area Diversion

The project won multiple awards, including the

• 2022 Project Finance Deal of the Year from IFLR Americas Awards
• 2021 Americas P3 Deal of the Year from Project Finance International
• 2021 North America Water Deal of the Year from Proximo
• 2021 Water Deal of the Year - North America from IJGlobal

The project, which will establish permanent flood protection measures for the region, involves

• a thirty-mile storm water diversion channel
• a storm water diversion channel outlet
• the diversion channel line of protection
• two pairs of interstate bridges
• twelve county road bridges or crossings
• four railroad crossings (including three railroad bridges and demolition of one railroad mainline)
• two aqueducts
• eleven drain inlets
• two drop structures that direct the flow of the Lower Rush River and the Rush River into the diversion channel

The Fargo-Moorhead Area Diversion is the first PPP flood management project in North America.

On June 18, 2021, The Metro Flood Diversion Authority (MFDA) selected Red River Valley Alliance—a consortium of private companies—as its P3 partner for the Fargo-Moorhead Area Diversion project, following a unanimous vote by its board of directors.

The comprehensive project will remove the threat of disastrous flooding with a design to withstand a 100-year flood event and additional protections in place to provide resiliency in the event of a 500-year flood.

Financial close was announced on November 1, 2021.

Completion of the project is anticipated by spring of 2027.

Further information on the project can be found on the FM Area Diversion website.