Isherwood Wins Against Drainage Board

On January 31, Donald (Justin) Isherwood, a Plover potato farmer, won a multi-year battle with the Portage County Drainage Board.

In 2013, Isherwood restored a drainage ditch into a successful brook trout habitat, that the Drainage Board believed obstructed drainage of surrounding fields. During the summer of 2016, the board removed the project three weeks before Isherwood could make his case in court.

Jon Counsell, Clark County judge, ruled in favor of Isherwood, stating that the board’s removal of the project was a “pigheaded move” and violated the judicial process.

Counsell ruled that the Drainage Board must pay up to $8,000 to restore the habitat and must also pay legal fees estimated at $50,000. The board has already spent 100,000 taxpayer dollars on the case. Paul Cieslewicz, drainage board chair, said the board will appeal, claiming that Judge Councell was biased and unprofessional.

The board has 45 days to appeal.

Isherwood had a restoration project planned since purchasing his land in 2008. However, the Drainage Board denied him the ability, to make alterations on that part of his property. The board did allow him to build on the opposite side of the road, which is what he did. With approval by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, a concrete design plan and a $50,000 grant from the Natural Resources Conservation Service, Isherwood began his restoration project. Several years later, the Drainage Board ordered Isherwood to remove his habitat, believing it was an obstruction to the stream and would cause flooding.

“In my point of view, they created a sense of hysteria and fear in the district that this kind of project was a threat to our very way of life,” said Isherwood.

Isherwood said that his habitat increased the trout population, made the water cleaner and flow at a steadier rate.

George Kraft, water resources professor, said, “Isherwood is maintaining drainage of the land and providing habitat for aquatic life.”

Even though Isherwood is eager to rebuild, he is giving the Drainage Board a chance to appeal. Isherwood is also planning to reach out to his local farming community and educate them on how his habitat will benefit them, by providing cleaner water and better irrigation from an improved water flow.

 

Shannon Columb
Reporter
shannon.t.columb@uwsp.edu

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