MOOHREAD, Minn. (AP) - Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton says the notion that Minnesota and North Dakota residents upstream from a proposed Red River diversion project are being sacrificed particularly for commercial development in Fargo has some merit.
Dayton has been in the southern Red River Valley talking mainly with upstream opponents who are unhappy the flood control proposal includes a massive holding area that would flood farmland and buildings in times of serious flooding.
Dayton said after Wednesday's meeting in Moorhead that Fargo authorities ''pretty much acknowledged'' they have rejected the small-town complaints in favor of expanding Fargo, and that has hurt working relationships.
Fargo-Moorhead Diversion Authority Chairman Darrell Vanyo told Dayton during the meeting that the proposal was advanced by the Army Corps of Engineers to protect 200,000 residents, not to spur development.