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County to investigate Wilder Road culvert after resident reports recurring backyard flooding
Summary
County staff presented a hydrology report and said upstream blockages likely cause recurring flooding affecting properties on Wilder Road. Public works will walk the site and evaluate a larger watershed fix rather than swapping a single culvert in the road.
Walker County public-works staff briefed commissioners July 10 on a hydrology report for a culvert on Wilder Road after residents reported repeated flooding on adjacent properties.
Public works summarized the engineering findings and recommended against simply replacing the culvert in the roadway without addressing upstream blockages and the watershed that feeds the ditch. Staff said the property where the ditch must be cleared lies partly on private land but that some of the ditch functions as stormwater infrastructure for the watershed; staff are exploring obtaining a prescribed easement to conduct work.
Resident Al Kramer, who lives at 307 Wilder Road, told the board he has repeatedly experienced yard and outbuilding flooding and said the culvert in place — installed around 1927, he said — is undersized for current flows. Kramer said the water frequently backs up through his property and that cleaning downstream areas alone would not stop his flooding. He asked the county to inspect the site in person.
Public works staff told the board they had just received permission to access the private portion of the ditch and planned to walk the corridor within a week to scope the work, then return with recommendations and cost estimates. Staff also noted a sanitary sewer line under the existing culvert complicates deeper trenching and that redirecting sewer infrastructure could increase costs.
Why this matters: recurring localized flooding can damage private property, require repeated emergency responses, and raise questions about right‑of‑way, easements and cost‑sharing between private landowners and the county.
