There was a monumental event this fall for the City of Burlington and the whole Souris River Basin. The day Burlington has waited for when the community could rest easier knowing flood protection was in place.

 

When the Souris River Joint Board was created the mission has always been finding solutions to assist in protecting residents of the Mouse River Basin from another 2011 type flood event from ever being realized again. The mission is still the same and we will continue to work until all communities in the region are safe.

 

We are incredibly proud of reaching a huge milestone and delivering on that promise. A community celebration and project ribbon cutting was held in the middle of Burlington Recreation Complex, which was one of the phases where levees were placed to protect the city. It was a beautiful evening under the canopy of trees in a space that looked very different once flood water subsided. The City of Burlington is the first municipality in the Mouse River Basin to have complete flood protection.

 

Dave Ashley, Souris River Joint Board Chairman, talked about the fortitude of Burlington and how they moved quickly and with intention to make sure the community was always working toward the end goal. And that goal has now been realized, and it came with a lot of partnership. The State Water Commission, other federal and state stakeholders, engineers, contractors, utilities, city staff, and others made this five year and $40 million dollar project a reality.

 

This fight and project moves forward as there is more to do, but Tuesday, September 19th was quite simply - a good day!