BROOKINGS – Brookings County commissioners have approved the creation of a new ad hoc committee that will research how to clean and fix waterways and how to better prevent major flooding in Brookings County.
Following the Feb. 4 commission action, County Development Director Robert Hill will head the “Ad Hoc Committee to Study Drainage Issues in Brookings County.”
Other members are Commissioner Lee Ann Pierce, East Dakota Water Development District Manager Jay Gilbertson, former District 7 legislator and EDWDD board member Spence Hawley, Lyle Bowes, GIS Technician Jim Sampson and Brookings County Deputy State’s Attorney Benjamin Kleinjan.
When convened as the Brookings County Drainage Board on Jan. 21, commissioners said that since Brookings County has not recovered from 2019 flooding and more is expected this summer, something needs to be done to alleviate flooding issues.
Bowes, former president of Bowes Construction, spoke to the commissioners about how he successfully cleared waterways on his own property and how Brookings County should do the same, since Brookings has a long history of flooding.
Pierce suggested creating a year-long ad hoc committee of professionals who could determine major issues within Brookings County.
In an interview with The Brookings Register, Hill said the county has aerial photos of Brookings County from May 2019 to November 2019. From there, he said the committee can better determine the transition and flow of water, where some of the more flooded areas are and where that specific water comes from.
He said committee members can determine if certain areas need culverts, dams, cleaning out, retention ponds, or waterways entirely restructured/rerouted.
Hill said the committee will work to find the affected areas that lead to flooding and come up with solutions on how to fix them. The goal is to then fix the indicated issues in 2021.
The first official meeting for the committee is tentative but will happen later this month. It will be a public meeting but will not include a public hearing.
The ad hoc committee will not study the Six Mile Creek area in and near Brookings because the City of Brookings will study that specific area. Hill said the county and city will work together on their findings. FEMA and the National Weather Service have and will provide additional research to the county.
Hill said he is worried about how Brookings County will handle another season of flooding this spring and summer. The county has bought several thousand sandbags and will place sand stations at the S-curves and by Interstate 29 Exit 140 for people to come and load up on sand and sandbags.
“We’ve been told it’s going to be nothing but bad,” Hill said. “We’ve been told that we’ve got a 95% chance of flooding in Brookings County.”
Hill said the National Weather Service has reported there is an average of a 95% chance of flooding from the entire Northern Plains reaching all the way to Georgia and New York.
The NWS also anticipates a sudden thaw this spring, and due to the increased levels of precipitation this winter and lack of recovery from 2019, that flooding could be much worse for 2020.
The committee wants to be informed of any waterway-based issues from the public if the county is not already aware of them. Contact Hill at 605-692-5212 or email him at rhill@brookingscountysd.gov.
Contact Matthew Rhodes at mrhodes@brookingsregister.com.
