Ditch stumps the county inspector

By Lisa Kaczke | The Daily Journal

Published 12:00 p.m., May 13, 2009

A ditch system in St. Olaf Township has the Otter Tail County ditch inspector stumped.

Sewell Lake has several places where water travels into the lake, including Ditch No. 70. The problem is the only outlet for the lake is a 12-inch tile, which has a restrictive valve placed in it which makes it now 8 inches, Ditch Inspector Randy Wasvick told the Otter Tail County Board Tuesday. That water then dumps into Ditch No. 52 and eventually ends up in Grant County.

“I don’t understand the design of it,” Wasvick said of the original 1923 design.

Wasvick guessed that when the ditch system was built in 1923, county staff felt there wouldn’t be homes built on Sewell Lake. The lake probably was meant to be a “catch pond” that holds water while letting it out slowly, he said.

Commissioner John Lindquist pointed out that in 1923, the 12-inch outlet probably worked. Lindquist estimated that since then, the amount of water going into the lake has increased five-fold.

The increased flow has caused the water level of Sewell Lake to rise and caused years of flooding problems, Wasvick said while showing pictures of the area to commissioners. The water level of the lake is causing the water to flood out of Ditch 70, he said. The flooding is causing residents to lose property and tillable land to water, he said. One home on the east end of the lake has significant flooding problems, Land and Resource Director Bill Kalar said.

In 1994, residents petitioned the county board to fix Ditch 70, which was denied. County Attorney Dave Hauser said it was denied because the system was doing what it was designed to do and water was leaving the lake. Wasvick said, according to the minutes from the 1994 board meeting, commissioners asked for a show of hands for and against fixing the system. A majority of the residents opposed the proposal.

Commissioners agreed that something needs to be done about the problem and authorized Wasvick to begin the process of working with staff from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR).

A permit will be needed from the DNR because the work will be completed below 1,298 feet, or what the DNR has identified as the lake’s ordinary high water level. The ordinary high water level is the highest level maintained for a sufficient period of time, according to the DNR.

Wasvick said he recommends Ditch 70 be redetermined for benefits and an engineering study be completed. Wasvick cautioned the board that it would take about two years before the flooding problem could be solved.

In 1923, 445.8 acres of land benefited from the ditch with a value of $35,319, Wasvick said. Today, the ditch doesn’t have a fund to pay for repairs.

No information could be found in the ditch’s file as to why or when the tile was restricted to 8 inches, Wasvick said. The 12-inch tile follows an old crick bottom, Wasvick said.

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