Putnam County Group Calls For More River Benching
12/19/18 – 5:16 A.M.
A Putnam County group has plans for reducing Blanchard River flooding in the future. The Courier reports Citizens United for a Better Blanchard met with officials from all the counties the river winds through on Tuesday to talk about future flood reduction efforts. They’re calling for widening pinch-points along the waterway. The plan also includes river benching at certain spots along the entire river.
The group says benching certain points would cost around $150 million. They’re asking the county commissioners, either from one county or as a group, to petition for the river’s improvement. Since counties can’t petition themselves, a common pleas court would have to handle the issue.
Retired Soil and Water Conservation district employee Dan Ellerbrock led the meeting. He said uniform standards for releasing stormwater from holding ponds would also help the flooding problem.