This past fall my employer converted some of his land into the Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP). This area is adjacent to the property he secured the hunting rights on that I've written about putting in food plots in the past. There is a lot of change about to happen there (city annexation) there but I'll save that story for later.
Since the levees were installed last fall we were unable to plant for ducks until now. Last winter was the first time it has held water other than under extreme conditions of the TN River flooding.
The reason for this post is I would like to hear how levees should be constructed.
When these levees were constructed they pushed dirt immediately adjacent to the levees instead of moving dirt from a broader area, especially higher ground. The picture below shows the area just after the levees were made and before water filled it. As a result they created two deep ditches alongside each levee. The depth of these ditches is well below the drain by two to three feet so water is trapped. I am already seeing water primrose (God I hate water primrose and alligatorweed!) taking hold which can be very problematic. It spreads like wildfire, traps water preventing planting, and is difficult to get rid of. We are trying to pump this area in order to be able to plant it with millet, etc. but I do not have a pump large enough to do the job and I can see a heavy rain filling it again making it impossible to plant.
It just seems to me the WRP contractor took the easy way out instead of moving dirt from a distance so as not to create ditches. Has anyone else had ponds built under WRP? Is this the normal construction technique? A biologist oversaw the work so is there some biological advantage to ditches that hold water year round? Could that have been the goal or was it hastily done?
There is still some plantable acreage between the levees but I would have liked it better if they used higher ground in the middle as the source for dirt and made it drain completely.
Since the levees were installed last fall we were unable to plant for ducks until now. Last winter was the first time it has held water other than under extreme conditions of the TN River flooding.
The reason for this post is I would like to hear how levees should be constructed.
When these levees were constructed they pushed dirt immediately adjacent to the levees instead of moving dirt from a broader area, especially higher ground. The picture below shows the area just after the levees were made and before water filled it. As a result they created two deep ditches alongside each levee. The depth of these ditches is well below the drain by two to three feet so water is trapped. I am already seeing water primrose (God I hate water primrose and alligatorweed!) taking hold which can be very problematic. It spreads like wildfire, traps water preventing planting, and is difficult to get rid of. We are trying to pump this area in order to be able to plant it with millet, etc. but I do not have a pump large enough to do the job and I can see a heavy rain filling it again making it impossible to plant.
It just seems to me the WRP contractor took the easy way out instead of moving dirt from a distance so as not to create ditches. Has anyone else had ponds built under WRP? Is this the normal construction technique? A biologist oversaw the work so is there some biological advantage to ditches that hold water year round? Could that have been the goal or was it hastily done?
There is still some plantable acreage between the levees but I would have liked it better if they used higher ground in the middle as the source for dirt and made it drain completely.
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