1999-10-28_AgendaPacket - Laserfiche WebLink

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Page 4 TE LK Summer 1999 - •~ _, - Two farmstead ring dikes in the Wild Rice Watershed District (Red River Valley). The Flood Damage Reduction Program has funded the construction of over 100 ring dikes. There are another 200 farmstead ring dikes planned for the future. ...contlnued from page 3 authorized $30 million in FDR funds for federal flood control projects in Chaska, East Grand Forks, Marshall, Stillwater and Warren as well as a number of other state and local flood damage reduction proj:.cts. To signifi- cantly reduce Minnesota's risk to flood damages will require at least 104+ million over the next 15-20 years. It is hoped. that some stable level of base funding will be achieved so that DNR Waters is able to more effectively budget and deal with,f!ood damages on an annual basis. The overwhelmingly positive response of the legislature to the Floods of 1997 and in the 1998 capital bonding session also created the need for revisions to the FDR program. In order to become more responsive to local units of government and to improve customer service as well as to improve accountability for the monies spent, FDR program staff redeveloped all aspects of the FDR program. The improvement efforts focused on a new and shorter contract form, simplified grant application forms, application procedures and project scoring criteria., the development of a program brochure and most importantly, the development of a FDR program tracking database. The database will allow FDR staff to more easily track the number and types of applications received, the difference between the dollar amounts applied for, versus dollars awarded and the amount of money leveraged from the federal government. The database will be linked to a GIS format so that data can be tracked. and reported spatially as well as graphically. The new. program materials were presented to local units of government in a series of statewide workshops in February 1999. DNR Waters anticipates sponsoring a similar series of workshops with more agencies and more technical and financial assistance information in the coming year. The ravages of flooding can have disastrous effects on peoples lives and their community. Participation in the FDR program enables communities to break the tremendously expensive damage-repair cycle and is extremely cost effective. The FDR program shields people and their communities from future disasters. For more information on the FDR program, call or write: Ed Fick (651) 215-1954 or Doug Losee (651) 297-3899. Minnesota DNR Waters FDR Program Coordinator 500 Lafayette Road, Box 32 St. Paul, MN 55155-4032 Fax: {651) 296-0445