Ditch Authority shows drone inspection videos of County Ditches 14 and 9; staff to expand aerial inventory

Benton County’s Ditch Authority on May 20 presented drone inspection footage of County Ditch 14 and County Ditch 9 and described how aerial video will inform annual maintenance and future repair planning.

Adam Ritchie, the county’s new environmental technician and certified unmanned-aircraft operator, demonstrated edited drone videos that follow ditch flow lines and highlight spoil piles, logs, localized erosion and areas where vegetation management had been completed or deferred to avoid wetland impacts. Staff said recent repairs on CD 14 generally appear to be functioning and that only limited erosion was visible in the inspection footage; CD 9 showed more areas of sediment accumulation and bank erosion in places where the channel had been re-opened after decades of limited flow.

Staff noted FAA and Saint Cloud airport airspace limitations that constrain flight altitudes and locations and said the county seeks to comply with approval requirements for flights near controlled airspace. The drone footage provides an efficient way to document conditions over long ditch reaches and will be used to support annual assessments, future repair reports and targeted ground-truthing inspections.

Ditch Authority members said the aerial perspective helps prioritize work, identify outlet erosion and verify spoil-pile placement. Staff said videos and inspection reports have been uploaded to the county’s drainage/ditch database in text/PDF form and that video hosting options are under consideration for future public reporting.

The Authority adjourned its drain-age meeting and returned the board to its regular session.