"The water resource district wants to get the word out," said Monica Zentgraf, secretary treasurer of Richland County Water Resource District. "It's a nice program. It's nice to help people not to have to worry and not to have to sandbag."
In 2001, nine Richland County rural residents applied for and received reimbursement for building ring dikes. There haven't been any applicants since then, Zentgraf said.
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There are certain criteria residents must meet when building a dike to be reimbursed by the state water commission. They include:
• the height must be greater than 2 feet above the highest flood level.
• the top width of the dike must be 4 feet if the dike is 5 feet tall or less; 6 feet if the dike is between 5 and 14 feet tall; 8 feet if the dike is greater than 14 feet tall.
• side slopes must be 3 feet horizontal and 1 foot vertical.
• when building, topsoil and vegetation must be stripped down 1 foot.
• every 6-8 inches, material must be compacted with passes of equipment.
• installing a culvert and flap gate for internal drainage and back flow prevention.
• topsoil must be spread.
• the dike must be seeded.
The homeowner has the option of hiring a contractor or doing the work independently. However it is done, 50 percent of the engineering, contracting and material are covered through the program up to $40,000, Zentgraf said.
Currently, the state water commission has $400,000 available for Richland, Traill and Cass county rural non-farmstead homeowners. However, the state water commission could increase this amount if applications for more than this amount come in, Zentgraf said.
"The people that have [ring dikes] are happy they have them," Zentgraf said. "Having ring dikes helps with the resale of a home, besides all the obvious reasons."
To contact the Richland County Water Resource District to apply, call 642-7773.
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