The Garrison Diversion Conservancy District (Garrison Diversion) Water Conference is scheduled for October 16 at the Holiday Inn in Fargo. The daylong conference will focus exclusively on the Red River Valley Water Supply Project (RRVWSP), a major drought relief project that will benefit nearly 50% of North Dakota’s population when it is complete. The conference will cover everything from the financial, political, and engineering aspects of the project to the project’s benefits for cities and water systems from central to eastern North Dakota.
“We’re excited for an interesting day focused on the Red River Valley Water Supply Project. Our 2017 event had great attendance and we’re expecting this year to be even better,” says Merri Mooridian, Garrison Diversion Conservancy District Administrative Officer/Deputy Program Manager for RRVWSP Administration.
This year’s emcee is John Wheeler, WDAY TV Chief Meteorologist. Wheeler has guided the Red River Valley through floods and droughts, cold snaps and heat waves, thunderstorms and blizzards for the past 34 years. The conference will also feature a presentation about drought prediction from another well-known North Dakota weather personality – Daryl Ritchison, who is the Director of the North Dakota Agricultural Weather Network. Ritchison’s knowledge of weather phenomena mixed with his engaging sense of humor will be a treat for conference attendees.
The conference will wrap up with a panel discussion about the State of Water in North Dakota. KFGO radio host Joel Heitkamp will moderate the panel discussion. Assistant ND State Engineer John Paczkowski will sit on the panel alongside Rep. Jim Schmidt, Water Topics Overview Committee Chairman; Majority Leader; Sen. Rich Wardner; Eric Volk, ND Rural Water Systems Association Executive Director; and Ken Royse, Garrison Diversion Board Chairman.
The RRVWSP is a plan to safeguard water for North Dakota communities and rural water districts in times of drought, as well as promote industrial development. The project will carry water from the Missouri River via a buried pipeline to provide a supplemental water supply to users in central and eastern North Dakota. So far, 35 cities and rural water systems are committed to help fund the development portion of the project, which includes conceptual engineering, phased preliminary engineering, and financial modeling.
To register for the free Garrison Diversion 2019 Water Conference, go to http://rrvwsp.com/events/2019GarrisonDiversionWaterConferenceRegistration