LEVEE DISTRICTS OPPOSE `BATHTUB LAND' PURCHASES

EAST CAPE GIRARDEAU, Ill. -- A U.S. Forest Service proposal to buy "bathtub land" outside levees along the Mississippi River in Southern Illinois has drawn criticism from area drainage district representatives.

At a press conference Monday at the East Cape Girardeau Town Hall, John Robb, chairman of the Upper Mississippi Flood Control Association, said it would be better to refer to the area as "marginal agricultural land."

Robb, whose association represents levee and drainage districts of the Upper Mississippi River Valley from Cairo north through Missouri, Illinois and Iowa, was joined by officials with a number of Southern Illinois levee districts and the Bois Brule Drainage District in Perry County, Mo.

Among their concerns, Robb said, include the government making plans for the land without first consulting those involved, taking the land off the tax rolls, and the drainage districts trying to handle their responsibility of keeping land dry while dealing with governmental agencies.

The proposal came to Robb's attention last week when he read an Illinois Agri-News article that said the U.S. Forest Service was seeking funding to purchase up to 30,000 acres as wetlands adjacent to levee districts in Jackson, Union and Alexander counties in Southern Illinois.

Robb said the districts were at a loss as to why they weren't consulted on the proposal. He said it was typical of how government officials plan.

Robb said the proposal involves land susceptible to flooding. He said he didn't know how many acres were tillable in those areas, but there were several that produced crops and added to the local tax base and economy.

If the land was voluntarily sold to the government, Robb said the drainage districts would still have to get the water inside the levees to the outside so it could flow to the river. But since the government has so many regulations dealing with wetlands, the impact on current drainage agreements is unknown, he said.

Removing the land from the local tax base would hurt the finances of area counties, school and drainage districts, Robb said. Loss of tax revenue would impact the drainage districts' abilities to maintain pumping facilities, ditching systems and levees, he said. The annual tax payment averages about $73 per acre, he said.

Mitchell McLane of Ware, a member of Clear Creek Levee District in Union and Alexander counties, said area districts were trying to maintain the current status. He said he was also concerned about access to the drainage ditches if the government buys the land.

McLane said no efforts were made to offset the loss in local tax base when a wildlife refuge was established in Union County during the 1950s. He said the local drainage district lost money while the levees protected areas inside the refuge.

Scott Bunselmeyer, a commissioner with the Degognia-Fountain Bluff Levee District in northern Jackson County, said he knows there are laws against impeding the flow of water, but he also has seen the government stop projects for years when something is found that might be harmed by normal activity. He said he would hate to see productive land revert to a wild state.

Robb said the levee districts believe the current balance between agriculture, drainage and wildlife is the best that has ever existed. He said the districts fight every day to keep the land productive.

"There's a tremendous amount of people who visit the areas and rely on the drainage districts to keep the water away," Robb said. He said he's concerned that might not be possible if federal government regulations interfere with the operation of the districts.