From The Jamestown (North Dakota) Sun:
There have been many words, opinions, headlines, blame and solutions offered to the recent flooding concerns in the Red River Valley. The easiest blame game is to attack farmers’ managing their fields to be the most productive, and cite that as the sole reason of flooding. Are we to believe that a nuisance low spot on a vast field that drains off only after other water levels have receded is the cause of problems in the valley? This area magically does not have any water retention property and is dry when overland flooding occurs.
The ridiculous ignorance of some is scary. These people and “tree-hugging” groups who want to see every acre of unpopulated land from coast to coast into wildlife refuge, grassland or conservation easement could be the real reason of the problem. The crest of 1897, more than 100 years ago, was a foot higher than this year. Were farmers draining land then? How about 15 years of an extreme wet cycle? What about building in flood-prone areas? This past winter saw extreme cold (thanks to Al Gore’s global warming) caused “concrete frost,” an abnormally hard frost due to the moisture content in the ground. The force of Mother Nature is the reason, not the farmer with a shovel.
I sat on the advisory board of a project to slow overland drainage. Many questions that I asked never got answered. How would payments to farmers be structured? How about reimbursement for yield loss for late seeding? What if holding water keeps you from planting a crop for that year, will crop insurance cover you? What about proven yield averages, will you be penalized in the event you have a loss by holding water? What about not getting a crop seeded for multiple years, will federal crop insurance condemn it? If your land stays wet, and the wetland gods look down from above, will you be rewarded with a blue dot on your farm maps?
I believe it is a stretch to pin hopes on another government bureaucracy that will cost more than projected and be tied up in legal action for an unforeseen amount of time.
Robert Lebacken
Reynolds, N.D.
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