By Kurt Menk
Editor
Green Isle area farmers who have experienced flooded land because the natural flow of ditch water through the culvert along Highway 25 has been restricted held a meeting at the Green Isle Community School on Wednesday, July 9.
These farmers believe that state and federal agencies have ignored or not followed a 1975 agreement by placing physical restrictions to inhibit the natural flow of water before July 1 each year.
The result is that the runoff from approximately 12,000 acres of land has backed up into Ditches 29, 39 and 1 onto  low lying fields. In one case, five to six inches of water remained on all low lying field from a June 1 rainfall before the area was hit with the seven-plus inches of rain on Thursday, June 19. 
Area farmers estimate that 30 percent of crops have been flooded out  this year and the issue will continue in the future until the problem is solved. 
State Representative Glenn Gruenhagen said that the issue does not seem to be a one-year problem, but an ongoing problem. Area farmers, he added, have suffered great losses.

See the full story in the July 17 edition of the Arlington Enterprise.