ND flood channel group wants money for ad campaign

FARGO, N.D. (AP) — Supporters of a $1.8 billion flood control channel around Fargo and Moorhead, Minn., say they need to do a better job at public relations.

The Forum newspaper reports (http://bit.ly/Ygc25v) that a subcommittee of the Red River Diversion Authority will ask the group's board for money to promote the channel and its controversial staging area that would flood an area south of the city during times of serious flooding.

The public outreach subcommittee has not outlined specifics of the campaign.

The staging area would affect about 200,000 acres, including the communities of Oxbow, Hickson and Bakke. Some residents in those areas have complained about the overflow area and a proposed ring dike around some homes.

Says subcommittee member Kevin Campbell, "The people who have no data are winning the public argument."

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.