SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO AM) - The Minnehaha County Commission Tuesday approved a permit to drain land southeast of Brandon Valley near Beaver Creek.
The plan calls for drain tiling property that hasn’t been farmed for fifty years and slowly filled in with water
Commissioner Dick Kelly says he doesn’t often find himself siding with the Sierra Club. But, he says the land is definately a nature area much like Beaver Creek State Park. Kelly says he has concerns when you start messing with the environment by artificial means. He knew drainage applications would be increasing though with the cost of land and the prices for crops.
Kelly cast the lone dissenting vote.
The water will cross the property of Mark and Jennifer Schmidtbauer in a ditch. The Schmidtbauers did not sign a downstream waiver so the application came before the commission.