Water Resources Commissioner outlines drain program workload, MS4 compliance and groundwater concerns

Joe Bush, the Ottawa County Water Resources Commissioner, gave a detailed report July 8 on the department's responsibilities under Michigan's drain code, daily maintenance workload, permitting activity and an emerging countywide groundwater concern.

Bush said the department issues soil erosion permits (965 active permits in 2024, 630 new in 2024) and runs the county's MS4 municipal separate storm sewer system program. He told commissioners the office identified about 8,000 catch basins in 2024, inspected 300 outfalls that year (all passed water tests), maintained roughly 310 ponds and completed more than 400 inspection reports. He said the office runs GIS mapping for drains and ponds and uses a revolving fund for urgent repairs; the county raised that revolver from $175,000 to $1 million in 2024 to lower reliance on short-term drain notes.

Bush said the department has one drain inspector plus his office for roughly a thousand drains and that he has requested an additional inspector to handle workload and potential orphan-drain petitions. He said Georgetown Township is considering petitioning to transfer about 500 orphan drains to county authority and that Holland Township has been transferring orphans at a rate of about five a year.

A major portion of Bush's remarks addressed groundwater and aquifer recharge. He said some newly developed subdivisions and private wells are struggling with falling water levels in certain areas and that deeper bedrock aquifers are not recharging as expected. "There are subdivisions that are starting to dry up, and there's no municipal water," he said, noting Zaeland/Zeeland and Borculo areas as examples discussed by callers. He described work with the groundwater board and with farmers on water-control structures, and said he returned from study visits in the Netherlands that informed potential water-management approaches. Bush said monitoring gauges and data collection are priorities before the county can design long-term interventions.

Commissioners asked about dam inspections, remote control of gate structures, coordination with road commissions on sinkholes and mowing, and the department's contractor and engineering partners. Bush said he coordinates with local farmers and the county's emergency manager during high-rain events, that eight dams under county authority are inspected on three-year cycles per EGLE requirements, and that many operational details are set up with local contractors and engineering firms.

Bush's presentation included cost drivers and the volume of petitioned maintenance work, and he emphasized the county's role in preparedness for heavy-rain events and the need for more monitoring to guide long-term groundwater strategy.