Minnesota Rep. Collin Peterson, Sen. Keith Langseth, DFL-Glyndon, and Paul Marquart, DFL-Dilworth, joined about 20 others at city hall. The Daily News was not notified of her arrival.
Klobuchar and Peterson have requested that $5 million be added in next year's appropriation bill to complete the city's flood project. The final phase will run north of the Otter Tail River and along the Red River.
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Many ideas for regional flood mitigation were brought up during the hour-long talk, including the concept of a 30-mile diversion channel on the Minnesota side near Fargo-Moorhead.
As Fargo gained a lot of press after the March flood, Klobuchar doesn't want communities like Breckenridge to be left in the dust.
"We have from the very beginning made clear to the president and the Secretary of Homeland Security that Minnesota has had extensive flooding damages as well," she said.
Peterson pushed for more watershed organizations in the Red River Valley, and referred to the success of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers-designed North Ottawa Impoundment Project, which holds 18,000 acre-feet of water east of Tintah.
"It's a start," said Mayor Cliff Barth, who believes a watershed is good for both flood and drought prevention. "If they can put more of these retention areas in place at the head of the inlets, upstream from the Rabbit River, upstream from Lake Traverse... all of these will help lower the levels of flooding all the way north on the Red River."
Wilkin County Commissioner John Blaufuss still isn't sure. A watershed for the Otter Tail River, which begins in Clearwater County and flows through several lake chains, would lower flooding levels but require consideration. The sheer geographical distance could pose a challenge in grouping representatives, and it might also cause some potential friction between farmers and lake residents, he said. The county does not intend on making any snap decisions over the matter.
"It's a complex situation," he said. "I'm not personally promoting this. It may come to the point where we have to do this, but we're not wanting to do it right now."
According to Wilkin County Highway Engineer Tom Richels, a watershed would benefit the county by opening up more funding opportunities. But starting one would require taxing landowners for projects and the operating costs to run the organization, a move no one wants to make.
"It wouldn't be a huge amount, but it's another tax," said Richels.
Barth said the city would have to petition for it in order to begin the process, and the issue is largely up in the air. Flood officials plan to meet with the Corps of Engineers Wednesday to discuss flood protection and the final phase of the project.
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