South Lincoln County landowner urges county‑led watershed study after recent floods

At the Jan. 14 meeting, property owner Mike Fania addressed the board during public comment about severe flood impacts a few weeks earlier along Farm‑to‑Market Road and Libby Creek. Fania described extensive damage to multiple private properties and urged the county to coordinate a comprehensive watershed study with federal, state and local partners.

"I would love for the county to be proactive and work with these entities... to conduct an overall watershed study of Libby Creek," Fania said, listing the U.S. Forest Service, DEQ, Fish, Wildlife & Parks, the Corps of Engineers, county planning and engineering consultants as potential partners. He noted private landowners cannot apply directly for certain state resiliency funds and asked the county to pursue funding and host public meetings to gather input from affected private landowners.

Fania said he had spoken with about 10 neighbors between Hammer Cutoff and Highway 2, all of whom expressed similar concerns about future extreme weather events and interest in a coordinated mitigation approach rather than piecemeal, property‑by‑property fixes.

Why it matters: The comment links locally observed flood damage to a broader resilience and funding question. If the county leads a watershed assessment, it could unlock funding and coordinated mitigation steps that individual landowners cannot obtain alone.

What comes next: Commissioners said they would standby for follow‑up and the clerk/staff indicated they would track the request; no formal board direction or motion was recorded during the public‑comment period.