Mississippi County ditches eligible for federal funding

CHARLESTON, Mo. -- Area surveyors are likely to be busy for the rest of the month.

Extra seating was brought in during the regular Mississippi County Commission meeting Thursday to accommodate farmers, landowners and drainage district officials seeking information on the latest round of Emergency Watershed Protection program funding.

On Jan. 20, a news release from the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced that Emergency Watershed Protection funds would again be available, according to Darin Gant, district conservationist for the USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service office at Benton.

The Emergency Watershed Protection program, which reimburses 75 percent of the cost for approved drainage improvement projects, was used extensively over the last couple of years in this area to return ditches to their original specifications.

For this round, however, NRCS officials were instructed to focus on two areas: the floodway and Mississippi and New Madrid counties, according to Mark Nussbaum, area engineer for the NRCS at the Jackson office.

Nussbaum said $1.203 million was allocated for projects sponsored by Mississippi County and projects in the floodway will receive 90 percent reimbursement instead of the usual 75 percent.

Deadline

Projects must be written and ready to move on construction by April 1, Nussbaum said.

"This is your one shot," he said. "We don't have much time but we're going to make a run at it."

And to meet that deadline, the NRCS office in Columbia, Mo., needs to have paperwork no later than March 15. That means surveys for projects need to be turned in to local NRCS officials by March 1.

"We need some survey data soon," Gant said.

While the NRCS is not recommending or endorsing any surveyors, Nussbaum said he knows Martin Lucas, county surveyor, is familiar with the Emergency Watershed Protection requirements and can probably tell if a project is eligible with a quick look.

The cost of surveys is not covered by Emergency Watershed Protection funding.

"So that is going to be an up-front cost," Nussbaum said. "It's not a high expense because it's not an intensive survey."

NRCS officials will also do their best to help area projects meet the deadlines.

"I got approval to work Saturdays and even Presidents Day," Nussbaum said.

Eligibility

For a ditch to be eligible for this round of Emergency Watershed Protection funding, Nussbaum said, it must drain at least two landowners; be an existing ditch -- the funding cannot be used to create new ditches; be clear enough on at least one side to provide access; and there must be a minimum of one foot of sediment to remove.

Also, ditches can only be cleaned down to their original depth.

Nussbaum recommended including a lot of photos to ensure projects aren't rejected at the national level.

The Emergency Watershed Protection program will not pay more than $3.80 per square yard of earth moved on projects, according to Nussbaum. He said bids from contractors rarely approach that cost ceiling.

Nussbaum said the NRCS has an ingress/egress permit form for granting access to ditches that is easy to fill out.

This program is not for road ditches, he said, but if a road ditch provides the primary drainage for an area it may be eligible for Emergency Watershed Protection funds.

Mississippi County may serve as an "umbrella sponsor" for ditches that aren't maintained by the county. Nussbaum recommended trying to get ditches in the same area grouped into large projects.

A project that meets the requirements is almost certain to be approved, Nussbaum said, "as long as it does what local people want."

If there is an objection raised by a landowner, that portion of the project will simply be dropped, he said.

"We'll leave that part alone and we'll go above it and below it," Nussbaum said.

As the Bootheel is considered to be a "damage zone," Nussbaum said, it is being shown preference "in several different ways."

A significant amount of Emergency Watershed Protection funding is also going into county ditches under the sponsorship of Levee District No. 3 and Consolidated Drainage District No. 1 for projects approved in June, according to Nussbaum.

"I'm glad the floodway gets special consideration," said Carlin Bennett, presiding county commissioner. But, he added, the county also had about 100,000 acres outside of the floodway that received flooding damage as well.

"We had almost as much damage on the outside of the levee as the inside," Bennett said.

Nussbaum said this is the first time he has ever seen the Emergency Watershed Protection offer 90 percent reimbursement.

"This is an emergency program," he said. "It goes very quickly."

All damaged areas in the entire country "are in the same race" to meet that April 1 deadline, Nussbaum said, after which available funding will be reallocated.

"We hope that deadline will be extended," he said, "but we're proceeding as if this is the stop date."

Nussbaum added that he also wouldn't be surprised if additional Emergency Watershed Protection funding is later released -- but landowners shouldn't count on it.

Pertinent address:

Charleston, MO