Area Officials Discuss ideas for MWCD Project Selection
Several area officials are offering advice and guidance to the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District for creation of a fair and equitable system to prioritize and select local flood reduction and water quality improvement projects as part of MWCD’s planned maintenance assessment program.
During a meeting held today (Dec. 7) in Cambridge, officials from throughout the MWCD region reviewed the maintenance assessment process for conservancy districts as mandated by Ohio law, discussed other public funding programs that exist in the state and provided initial ideas for development of a process for project prioritization and selection for the MWCD to implement.
No final recommendations were made and future meetings of the officials are planned. Officials and the MWCD plan to establish a system for project prioritization and selection during 2006.
As part of a $270-million, 20-year maintenance and improvement plan approved earlier this year by the MWCD’s Conservancy Court and Board of Directors, the Conservancy District has met with officials in its 18 counties of jurisdiction and asked them to identify projects that can improve flood reduction and water quality in the region. The Conservancy District has established numerous categories of work as part of its budgeted plan, and is seeking input for local projects.
Officials who attended the meeting include the following:
Dean Cain – Morgan County commissioner
Ann M. Obrecht – Wayne County commissioner
Michael Mullen – mayor of Marietta
Greg Bachman – Summit County engineer
Tim Lollo – Licking County engineer
John Kessler – Ohio Department of Natural Resources’ Division of Soil and Water Conservation
Bob Fonte – executive director of the Stark County Park District
Joseph J. Sommer – former member of the MWCD Board of Directors and former director of ODNR
J. Dennis Flechtner – engineer representing Stark County commissioners
The MWCD’s maintenance and improvement plan (which is the Amendment to the Official Plan of the MWCD) will be funded through an assessment of owners of property in the 18-county MWCD region. The assessment, which has been estimated to cost $12 per year for owners of residential and agricultural properties (with industrial/commercial still being developed), has been projected to begin collection in 2007 and include the combination of parcels with the same owner and use code.
Ohio law authorizes the state’s conservancy districts to levy assessments. Three basic classes of parcels are subject to the assessment: residential, agricultural and commercial/industrial.
Since its inception, the MWCD has operated on revenue primarily from the use of its facilities through various fee structures and the stewardship of its natural resources. However, this funding alone cannot address the large-scale needs and costs associated with the aging system, which are showing the effects of sedimentation, erosion and other issues that can have a negative impact on flood reduction and water quality benefits.
The MWCD, the largest of the estimated 21 conservancy districts in the state, is believed to be the only one active district that does not collect an assessment for maintenance of its facilities.
The 14 MWCD reservoirs are Atwood in Carroll and Tuscarawas counties; Beach City in Tuscarawas County; Bolivar in Stark and Tuscarawas counties; Charles Mill in Ashland and Richland counties; Clendening in Harrison County; Dover in Tuscarawas County; Leesville in Carroll County; Mohawk in Coshocton and Knox counties; Mohicanville in Ashland and Wayne counties; Piedmont in Belmont, Guernsey and Harrison counties; Pleasant Hill in Ashland and Richland counties; Seneca in Guernsey and Noble counties; Tappan in Harrison County; and Wills Creek in Coshocton and Muskingum counties. Two other reservoirs, Dillon in Muskingum County and North Branch Kokosing in Knox County, were constructed after the original 14 and are operated exclusively by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
The 18 counties wholly or partially contained in the MWCD region are Ashland, Belmont, Carroll, Coshocton, Guernsey, Harrison, Holmes, Knox, Licking, Morgan, Muskingum, Noble, Richland, Stark, Summit, Tuscarawas, Wayne and Washington.
Seneca Reservoir is one of 16 reservoirs in the Muskingum River Watershed flood reduction system originally constructed in the 1930s. Since its inception, the system has been credited for saving about $6 billion in potential property damage and saving countless lives.
More information about the MWCD system – including the full watershed renewal and maintenance plan – is available online at www.mwcd.org.
