By Carrie Parmenter
District
Technician, Posey County Soil and Water Conservation District
The SWCD’s are working in conjunction with the Posey County
Drainage Board, Posey County Surveyor, The Nature Conservancy, Indiana State Department
of Agriculture and the Natural Resource Conservation Service to install a ½
mile long two-stage ditch on Metz Lateral which is a tributary to Big
Creek. After months of canvassing the
two counties for possible sites, this site was chosen because of the severity
of erosion, easy access from a county road, suitable dimensions, and willing
landowners.
Metz Lateral where the two-stage ditch will be constructed.
For those of you who aren’t familiar with a two-stage ditch,
it is designed to have two levels. The
lower level is called the bench and it is about two feet above the normal water
level. These benches are grassed and act
like little floodplains. The side slopes
are then taper back and also grassed.
The gentle slope and grass help stabilize the banks and provide
additional area for flood waters during the spring. The grass helps remove sediment and
nutrients which creates much cleaner water.
Photo courtesy of The Nature Conservancy
There have been several two-stage ditches built in northeast
Indiana, but this is a new conservation practice for southwestern Indiana. The SWCD’s are planning to have events for
the public to come and see the two-stage ditch being built and we will showcase
the finished ditch. It’s our hope that
this practice will become much more common.
So watch the Posey County Soil & Water Facebook page for future
activities during and after construction! If you’d like to contact the Posey County
SWCD you can find us at www.poseyswcd.net.
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