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Resident urges fix to eroding ditch after repeated flooding; board tasks staff to study options
Summary
A Warrick County homeowner described repeated flooding and erosion along a drainage easement, saying water has entered his garage and raised safety concerns; the stormwater director and engineering staff will examine the site and return recommendations to the board.
A Warrick County resident told the stormwater/drainage board that ongoing erosion and silt buildup in a ditch between his property and a neighbor's is causing repeated flooding and public-safety risks, prompting the board to direct staff to investigate engineering fixes and return with recommendations.
Resident Mike Deach described a ditch that he says has "veered off" the platted easement and now carries enough volume to push riprap downstream and flood his driveway and garage. "If a kid falls in there, they're gonna drown," Deach said, describing the speed and volume of flows and concerns about a nearby transformer and buried utilities.
Deach told the board he brought photos and video showing erosion and prior work from 2016, when the culvert under the road was enlarged. He said the previous repairs did not resolve the problem and suggested a permanent fix such as a buried box culvert or reconstruction to restore the drainage to its intended route.
Board members and staff debated legal authority and options. The county surveyor cited Indiana Code 36-9-27 in discussing the surveyor's authority to oversee maintenance of drainage easements; other members noted the difference between a platted drainage easement and private property where taxpayer dollars cannot be spent. One staff member said the board's obligation is to restore drainage to original, accepted condition and that the board lacks authority to work on private property outside an easement.
Technical staff and the stormwater director described engineering constraints and trade-offs: enlarging the culvert at the roadway could convey more water through the road but might increase downstream erosion; constructing a box culvert and extending conveyance to the lake would be more costly; smaller measures such as check-dams or riffraff dams could slow flow but would not eliminate extreme-event overflow. Staff also noted many recent storms exceed the original 25-year design assumptions.
The board asked the stormwater director and roadside/engineering staff to obtain the approved drainage plan, review easement boundaries, examine utilities and possible design options (including check dams, riffraff, reengineering the channel or a box culvert), and present options to the board. Members approved that course of action by voice vote/consensus.
Next steps: stormwater staff will gather the drainage plans, assess ownership/easement limits and engineering options, meet with roadside operations if needed, and bring a recommended course of action back to the board for review.
