A large part of our flooding problem is due to drainage issues. I have attended town board meetings from Macclesfield to Ayden with drainage being a common issue among citizens and local elected officials. Standing water is not only a safety hazard; it destroys crops, homes, and roadways, costing towns and municipalities millions yearly.
Experts have recommended multi-step solutions, including beaver management, landscape buffers, sediment management, water storage (i.e., retention ponds), and debris removal from ditches and canals. When water flow is obstructed, it not only affects residents at the site of the obstruction, it affects everyone upstream and downstream.
Private landowners and small municipalities bear the brunt of the work and the cost of maintaining drainage ditches and canals. As your next Senator, I will work with the General Assembly to fund and coordinate a unified effort to improve and maintain our waterways.
