Carver County Ditch Authority hears viewer reports, moves to continue redetermination for ditches 6, 9 and 10

The Carver County Ditch Authority held a public hearing to consider viewers’ reports and redetermined benefit recommendations for County Ditches 6, 9 and 10, then closed public comment and directed staff to prepare findings for adoption at a later meeting.

Viewers from H2O Overviewers explained that they used LIDAR-derived elevation data, soils and field “ground‑truthing” to map watersheds and classify land into four agricultural classes (class 1/red through class 4/blue). Scott Henderson, the lead viewer, told the authority the classification and grading process produces a tabular spreadsheet that breaks benefits down to the hundredth of an acre and accounts for roads, woodlots, farmsteads and non‑tilled areas.

The conclusions the viewers recommended were substantial increases in assessed benefits compared with the old rolls. For Ditch 6, Henderson said the currently listed benefits are just under $350,000 and the viewers recommended about $1,100,000; the proposed watershed for that system rose from roughly 2,100 acres…