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Farmers say rebuilding dike could return wet fields to production
Summary
Several landowners told the Drainage Board that fields and grassland near the diversion channel lost productivity after the dike failed; they urged reconstruction, saying moving water back to the main channel would allow land to dry and return to production.
Multiple residents who identified themselves as landowners told the Drainage Board they have lost productive cropland or grassland since the dike failed and urged county action to restore flow to the main Big Sioux channel. Steve Wicks said his land north of Campbell has been unharvestable since 2004 and argued the county must reconstruct the dike to avoid more backwater: "if you don’t put that dike in, it will back the water up even further because it’s so flat."
Robb Hexum described grassland near 217th Street that now holds water and grows cattails and willows; he said a repaired dike with a culvert could move water back to the river on a normal basis and restore production. Chass Echelberg said repairing the dike earlier would have avoided the present discussion, and others (including David Eggers) described bank stabilization and elevation markers when explaining why they favor returning flow to the main channel.
