NEW ULM — Brown County commissioners unanimously approved authorizing the board chairman to sign a County Ditch (CD) 44 Outlet Wetland Conservation Act application Tuesday.

Action came on a motion by Commissioner Tony Berg, seconded by Dave Borchert.

A petition was submitted to the Brown County Drainage Authority requesting improvement to the CD 44 public drainage system, where the mainline tile spans for 430 feet through a RIM (Reinvest in Minnesota) easement on the east side of CSAH 10, where it enters a private ditch, leading into the northwest corner of Lake Hanska.

RIM is a state-funded program that compensates landowners for voluntarily retiring marginal crop ground to benefit wildlife habitat and protects state soil and water resources.

The improvement petition was brought forward to provide a deeper system and better drainage outlet into the lake. After meetings with the drainage authority and landowners, it was determined the drainage system could be rerouted to provide a tile outlet higher in elevation above the existing elevation, which is below normal lake levels.

The proposed design includes constructing a shallow (2-foot deep average) and narrow (4-foot wide bottom) open channel through the RIM easement. The channel is 504 feet long and would meander in the low-lying, natural flow path of the area.

The alternative was selected when comparing outlets for new CD 44 tile in an effort to limit area impact. It is proposed to repair 325 feet of open ditch, including cleaning sediment from the open channel and removing trees necessary to construction.

New open ditch construction will include about 0.13 acres of wetland excavation. The open ditch was designed with input from Board of Water & Soil Resource Engineer Tom Wenzel.

The next step is to submit the WCA application for a wetland drainage exemption to the Technical Evaluation Panel (TEP) for review. If approved, the project engineer (ISG) can complete the final engineer’s report and move forward with a final hearing.

The engineer discussed the plan with the affected property owner, who is on board with excavating the small, shallow ditch to the lake from CSAH 10.