Cape Girardeau County, Little River Drainage District to clear ditch debris

Earlier in the year Delta officials feared they might miss out on funds needed for a project to reduce flooding in the town.

Now, those living in the community of 540 can breathe a little easier thanks to a planned contract between Cape Girardeau County and the Little River Drainage District.

Scheduled for a signing during the county commission's Monday meeting, the contract calls for the entities to share the costs of clearing brush and debris from drainage ditches along the remnants of Whitewater Creek. That work must be complete by June 1 or the project will not be eligible to receive nearly $1 million in federal funding for restoration of drainage near an 11-mile ditch along Whitewater Creek.

For decades the ditch in Delta has gradually filled with sediment, trees and vegetation, blocking drainage of several acres of farmland and roads. The proposed project would dredge those ditch bottoms.

Delta Mayor Bonnie Bradshaw said the drainage ditch frequently fills with rainwater and floods parts of the town. She expressed relief over the project.

"We've had this problem for a long time," Bradshaw said. "We can't do anything because we don't have a place to go with it. It's escalated to the point where it's a great thing if we can get it done."

Efforts to restore the ditch began in spring 2009, when Delta officials and residents, Jackson lawyer Tom Ludwig and Cape Girardeau County District 1 Commissioner Paul Koeper met to discuss drainage problems in the area. The group attempted to secure funds to clear and clean out the ditch.

By the fall Mark Nussbaum with the Natural Resources Conservation Service reported $1 million in emergency federal funds were available for the project, contingent on its September 2010 completion. The money was not to be used for clearing the ditch but only for excavation.

In late December, Delta officials and district president Larry Dowdy appeared before the Cape Girardeau County Commission to ask for approval of a $166,400 block grant with the Missouri Department of Economic Development and their help in convincing two landowners to follow suit with 28 other landowners who had allowed the project to take place on their land.

Earlier this month the two landowners agreed to the easement, clearing the way for the project to happen. However, this month the grant was rejected on the basis that the clearing was a maintenance item, for which the money could not be used.

That eliminated the possibility of receiving the $1 million in federal funding for the excavation.

But because of the availability of disaster relief funds from the March 2008 flooding in the county, another $1 million is now available, contingent on the clearing of the land. The restoration project should be complete by September 2011.

"With the exception of a few bumps in the road, it is nice to see a project come together," Koeper said. "In the end the best solution, and the most immediate, was found to be a cooperative partnership between the Little River Drainage District, NRCS Emergency Watershed Program and Cape Girardeau County."

bblackwell@semissourian.com

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