Landowner questions commissioners about ditch cleanup

Rock County landowners saw their topsoil wash into ditches with recent flooding, and those who want their dirt back will have to pay to have it moved, according to discussion at the Rock County Board meeting Dec. 1.
That’s what commissioners told Henry Petersen of rural Hardwick after he addressed the board.
Heavy rains and subsequent flooding events in June 2014 and again this spring eroded an earthen berm that runs parallel to County Road 19, north of Petersen’s farm in Denver Township 12.
The berm, before it was damaged, kept water in the east side ditch and out of the adjacent crop field.
County workers recently removed sediment from a portion of the west ditch along County Road 19. Petersen said he had been told he could not clean the east ditch.
“I want it so that the slow water, when we get that half-inch (of rain), runs down the ditch like it used to,” he said.
After the 2014 flooding, commissioners decided that landowners who wanted to remove and keep the sediment from their ditches could do so.
But they must pay an authorized contractor to complete the work under the supervision of the county highway department.
The supervision is necessary to ensure that the integrity of ditches is maintained.
Because County Road 19, four miles northeast of Hardwick, dissects a major tributary to the Rock River, a state permit would be necessary before Petersen could clean the estimated 1,500 feet of ditch.
Commissioners authorized county personnel to assist Petersen in obtaining the necessary permit. The process could take up to a year to complete.
Once the permit is received, Petersen agreed to hire and pay a contractor to complete the sediment removal, estimated at $2,000. Petersen said he would use the sediment to repair the damaged berm.