3/29/18 – 1:35 P.M.

Putnam County members of Citizens United for a Better Blanchard met with the Hancock County Commissioners Thursday to talk about a possible new approach to dealing with flooding. Dan Ellerbrock says their plan calls for reducing pinch points throughout the river among other items…

Audio: Dan Ellerbrock

Ellerbrock says there are around 25 narrow parts of the waterway between Findlay and the Auglaize river. The proposal calls for widening the narrow parts of the Blanchard without getting into the water, which would help with permitting.

The proposal also calls for increased use of cover crops and no-till farming in the watershed. The group says this would lead to healthier soil, which can hold more water than compacted soil. They add it would also reduce runoff into the waterway and into Lake Erie…

Audio: Dan Ellerbrock

Ellerbrock says the plan would likely cost around $80 million to carry out. He says that cost spread out over every acre of land in the Blanchard River Watershed over 20 years amounts to about $8 an acre…

Audio: Dan Ellerbrock

Ellerbrock says the hope is that the commissioners in the watershed or landowners will start a petition process. The group has already talked to the Putnam County Commissioners about the idea.