Daviess County Commissioner Chris Castlen says the County is closer than ever to developing a coordinated plan to address long-standing flooding and drainage issues after spending the past year working with state and federal agencies to understand what improvements are possible and where they should begin.
Castlen said the renewed effort grew out of years of complaints from farmers and rural residents about repeat flooding and clogged ditches. He said the County previously avoided clearing certain ditches on private property because of legal concerns based on a longstanding position and interpretation of statutes held by legal counsel.
The County’s turning point, Castlen said, came when they brought in the Division of Water and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to help sort out those limitations and determine a legal framework for potential projects. That partnership took time to establish but is now providing direction.
“They’re helping clarify what can be prioritized and what rules we have to follow when we clean out ditches,” Castlen said. “They can tell us what we can take out of the bottoms or the banks, what needs to stay, and how to make sure we’re staying within state and federal guidelines.”
The agencies are also assisting with a broader assessment of flood mitigation options. That includes “green sinks” — areas designed to temporarily hold water — along with traditional ditch maintenance. Castlen said those experts are helping identify priority problem spots using aerial maps, blockages reported by residents, and the County’s stormwater master plan.
Because most flooding issues involve both public and private land, Castlen said the Division of Water’s involvement is critical. It allows the County to document when work on private property serves a broader public good, such as preventing upstream or downstream flooding, improving road conditions, or avoiding repeated emergency closures.
“If we can show, based on expert information, that something affects the whole area and not just one specific property, then that’s what bringing in the Division of Water is all about,” he said.
As for where problems tend to begin, Castlen said road-closure maps consistently show flooding starting in the eastern part of the county and working west. That pattern will guide how the County approaches long-term improvements.
He said the goal is to balance immediate fixes, such as removing blockages when they fall within the County’s existing stormwater maintenance plan, with long-term projects like retention areas or watershed improvements that take years to implement.
“Permanent solutions are expensive, and they take a long time,” Castlen said. “That’s why we’re going at this from a couple of different fronts. Get the low-hanging fruit now, but also prepare for what happens when water sits for a while.”
To coordinate the work locally, officials plan to revive the Daviess County Drainage Advisory Board — a long-dormant body that once served as a liaison between landowners and the County. Castlen said he expects the Fiscal Court to vote on reestablishing the board in January.
“We see a need to have this advisory board and to work with the Division of Water to identify locations in the county that we can actually address,” he said. “We want a continual maintenance method, not just fixing immediate issues.”
Even with stronger partnerships in place, funding remains one of the County’s biggest hurdles. The Division of Water has helped search for potential grants, but Castlen said the programs the agency commonly uses aren’t available to Daviess County. He has also been in contact with Green River Area Development District staff to explore other avenues.
“We’re going to identify the problems with the Division of Water and try to figure out what it’s going to take to fix them,” he said. “We’ll ask for whatever we can get to assist, but even if the state or federal government can’t help, we’ve got to figure out a way, even if it means Daviess County paying for it.”
Castlen hopes to have enough information ready to request funding during the upcoming budget cycle, though he said the County could bring forward a request earlier if the advisory board has a clear plan.
Castlen said he understands residents may feel the County has been slow to act, but he emphasized that the groundwork has been underway for more than a year.
“Just because people haven’t seen us cutting down trees or digging out ditches doesn’t mean we haven’t been laying the groundwork,” he said. “This has been at the forefront for all of us on Fiscal Court. We want to fix the problem as soon as we can, and now we finally have the momentum and the partnerships to get there.”
