For the second time in less than three months the county supervisors, serving as trustees of drainage districts, on Monday listened to technical information and lively comments from property owners and farmers.
A public hearing in late August about proposed repairs to Drainage District 2, which includes much of the incorporated city of Grand Junction, drew more than two dozen persons and lasted two hours.
A public hearing on Monday on proposed repair in Drainage District 27 had fewer people in attendance, but some of them were there to say neighboring farmers aren’t doing the job right and they should be the ones to pay for needed repairs.
DD 27 covers about 1,500 acres in roughly Sections 24, 25, and 36 of Dawson Township, south of County Road E-18 and west of County Road P-33 west of Paton.
Engineers Justin Miller and Dan Wedemeyer of McClure Engineering’s Fort Dodge office presented their report with a recommendation that a headwall at the southern end of the district be repaired, that abandoned tile from the 1950s that is now exposed be crushed, that sections filled in with silt be cleaned out and that other sections be re-graded to return the area to the intended slope, and that a culvert be replaced on 150th St. Cost to the property owners in the district was estimated at $45,500, and cost to the county for the culvert was estimated at $16,000.
DD27 is the only surface drainage system among all the districts for which the supervisors are trustees.
At the hearing, a pair of farmers asked that the farmer who had cut a notch in the headwall be asked to pay for its repair. That farmer was present. He said he cut the notch in the headwall to decrease ponding in his field behind it.
County engineer Wade Weiss said that if the grade were adjusted and the headwall were repaired, water would flow over the top as it was originally intended when the structure was built in the late 1950s.
The same farmers who asked about the headwall criticized the farming practices of another farmer, saying that he farms through the surface drain, leveling it out. “It’s not a silting problem, it’s a farming problem,” the critical farmer said. He said it’s easy to see how the contour of the surface drain has changed north of 150th St, where crops have been planted across the drain.
Drainage clerk Michelle Fields said the Code of Iowa allows drainage districts to fine farmers who intentionally damage drainage tiles, and she plans to research whether a farmer could be fined for damaging a surface drain.
There was discussion of replacing the surface drains with grass waterways as a way to improve water quality. Engineer Miller said that’s a good suggestion but not in the scope of the project at this time.
After 45 minutes of discussion, the supervisors approved the engineer’s report and set a bid opening date for Dec. 12. McClure Engineering will solicit the bids. It should be possible to have the work done before spring planting, Miller said.
The engineer’s report is posted on the Greene County website.
