After months of debate on aging flood-control structures, Vernon County approves applying for two state dam grants

Vernon County supervisors voted to apply for WDNR municipal dam grants for two flood‑control structures after a lengthy technical briefing, public comment and debate about costs, safety and long‑term management.

County conservation staff explained the federal and state funding landscape and said the NRCS programmatic and federal appropriation routes did not provide FY2026 funding for the county's PL‑566 project; staff told the board that design funding across the PL‑566 package could be on the order of $4.5 million and take roughly 18 months to produce. Staff framed the current step as pursuing state NR 335 grants (the WDNR municipal dam grant program) where maximum awards run about $1,000,000 per application.

Conservation specialist Matt Eddy (Vernon County Land and Water) presented geologic electrical‑resistivity imaging (ERI) for two dams and described abutment fractures, seeps, sand boils and other migratory‑flow evidence. "This dam was built in 1962, so it's aged infrastructure," Eddy said; he identified seepage and piping risks and noted that bringing structures up to current safety standards could require multi‑million‑dollar investments.

Public speakers and several supervisors pushed back against decommissioning proposals, citing recent flood events and local flood‑mitigation benefits of the dams. Opponents argued the programmatic environmental study and NRCS recommendations should not be the only path forward without alternate funding sources; they emphasized local flood protection and the community work the dams have provided. Others noted the county's fiscal exposure if it assumes full repair costs and flagged that some DNR and federal grant programs reimburse on a cost‑reimbursement basis with varying match rates.

After discussion of alternatives (including watershed practices, targeted repairs and the possibility of applying to multiple grant programs), the board passed Resolutions 20‑25‑43 and 20‑25‑44 authorizing applications for NR 335 funding for the Swenson and Jacobson sites. Staff said there would be no decommissioning unless grant funding is secured and designs are adopted; the minutes show the motion to apply passed by voice vote.

The exchange highlighted tension between community members who see dams as active flood protections and staff and regulators who point to engineering deficiencies and high retrofit costs. Staff agreed to continue pursuing state and federal funding opportunities while coordinating with local watershed groups and landowners.