HURLOCK, Md. - Flooding has taken a toll on some farmland.
Farmer Wes Messick says some of the problem falls onto Dorchester County.
He says their ditches cant hold more than two inches of water and it's washing away his livelihood.
After a heavy rainfall, water flows from the North Dorchester Middle School, into the county-owned ditches, and then overflows and floods Wes Messick's farm. He tells us the water eventually impacts his crops and the land.
"The problem with water of this magnitude of this size is that it sits on top of the ground and when it sits for a prolonged period, it creates a hard pan," says Messick. That hardens the ground over time, prevents the crops from growing through the soil, and causes them to die.
Dorchester County Council President Lenny Pfeffer says public works have been out to assess the problem.
"We generally try to look to see if the water drains out of the county ditch within 24 hours. That shows that the county ditch is running the way that it should be," says Pfeffer.
The water appears to be draining within that time period. But, the consistent overflow creates that hard pan or long-term problem. While Messick says it will eventually drain, the problem shows in 18 months when they have to till the land just to soften it for the crops.
Messick says the county could think about creating a third retention pond at the middle school's property.
"The third partial would be very shallow and then it would overflow into the ditch slowly," says Messick.
Pfeffer replied to that idea saying, "So currently the school has a retention pond which takes the runoff from the rainwater collects it, and then distributes it out into the county ditch at a regular flow. It would take intensive studies of the soil hydrology and topography before we could make any kind of decision on what to do in this area."
