Land and Water committee forwards 2024 annual report to county board; approves one wildlife damage claim

The Adams County Land and Water Committee voted to send its 2024 annual report to the county board and approved a single wildlife‑damage claim during its meeting.

Colton, department head for Land and Water, summarized the department’s 2024 accomplishments, including more than $305,000 in grant awards, Winshed partnership projects, rock chute and rock‑lined waterway installations, stream‑bank protection, cover‑crop cost share, aquatic invasive‑species monitoring and a planned dam project at Cottonville. He also described a producer‑led group active in the 14‑mile watershed.

Colton told the committee that the department’s grant revenue represented ‘‘over about 80% of our revenue’’ for the year and that the report also lists partners, project status and a department‑head narrative of work done in 2024.

Committee action and why it matters - Motion to forward 2024 Land and Water annual report to the county board: motion made; second recorded; the motion carried with Supervisor Posdolski recorded as opposed. The committee did not adopt substantive program changes at this meeting; forwarding the report moves it to the full county board for review. - Wildlife‑damage claim: the committee approved the sole claim presented, for Richard Lucas Grain. Committee discussion clarified crop type and damaged acres: the record shows three fields appraised (87 acres with 4.5 acres damaged; 13 acres with 5.5 acres damaged; 10 acres with 0.7 acres damaged). The committee recorded one opposing vote (Supervisor Posdolski) and approved the claim.

Other highlights and context - Colton reported a meeting with the county forest DNR liaison; he said the Knowles‑Nelson stewardship grant (which helped previous county forest acquisitions) may be subject to legislative change that could end the program, and that future DNR project loan support would still exist but could require counties to cover a 50% share of purchase price rather than receiving prior grant support. - The committee discussed project status reports, aquatic invasive species monitoring, citizen lake monitoring and the 2024 well testing program. Colton said those items are documented in the attached annual report.

Direct quote - Colton (department head, Land and Water): "our revenue, we had 300 and over $305,000 that were awarded to us in grants, which was over about 80% of our revenue."

Ending Committee members asked for follow‑up on specific items and were advised to send technical questions to department staff. The forwarded report will appear on the county board agenda for further consideration.