Map of rivers within Minnesota.
Purpose
The purpose of this project is to develop a strategic plan for the establishment of a Minnesota Flood Center. This will build formal collaboration among numerous federal, state and local partners to develop a strategic plan that provides a planning-level process and corresponding timeline and cost estimate for the establishment of a Minnesota Flood Center. The proposed Minnesota Flood Center would be modeled after the Iowa Flood Center, which is a website-based dashboard for visualizing and sharing flood-related data to help citizens understand, plan, and prepare for floods. Subject matter experts across state agencies maintain the Iowa Flood Center. The project partners will be completing this study in partnership with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and other federal, state and local partners.
Location
The location of this project would be in and around bodies of water that are prone to cause flooding within the state of Minnesota.
Description
A Minnesota Flood Center would help to formalize collaboration among similar state and federal agencies with a common mission of reducing flood risk. Establishment of a statewide flood monitoring center is an identified strategy in the 2024 Minnesota State Hazard Mitigation Plan with the intended goal to “reduce deaths, injuries, property loss, and economic disruption due to all types of flooding (riverine, flash, coastal, and dam/levee failure).”
Status
The project is approved for funding, initiation of the study is expected by June of 2026, and completed is expected in the fall of 2027.
Authority
This project falls under the Floodplain Management Services program authorized by Section 206 of the Flood Control Act of 1960, as amended (33 U.S. Code Section 709a).
Funding
Fiscal year 2026 $85,000
Fiscal year 2027 $15,000
Project total: $100,000