ANTIGO, Wis. — The Wisconsin Potato & Vegetable Growers Association (WPVGA) supports the continued and effective use of Wisconsin’s drainage laws as a means to manage water in the Central Sands and across the state.
Wisconsin’s drainage laws are essential to maintaining agricultural land and ensuring healthy crops in areas where farmland is wet. Drainage Districts are the mechanism that allows farmers and other landowners to work as a group to govern activities within drains and to cooperative and fairly pay for drainage maintenance and repair. According to the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection, about one-third of farms in Wisconsin depend on constructed drains to remove excess water from their land.
Drainage Districts are municipal corporations under Wisconsin law. Drainage Boards are bodies that are responsible for the daily administration and management of drainage districts. Board powers are established under Wisconsin statutes and provide clear mechanisms for the construction, operations, maintenance and repair of drains across the state.
The WPVGA supports the continued and effective operation and governance of drains and drainage districts by Wisconsin drain boards in accordance with our well-established and carefully crafted Wisconsin laws. The continued operation of these drains is essential to farming potatoes and vegetables, as well as other crops, across Wisconsin.
For a detailed look at how one drainage district in Portage County plays a pivotal role in Wisconsin agriculture, read Portage County Drainage District Makes Farming Possible by Joe Kertzman, available online at http://wisconsinpotatoes.com/badger-commontater-news/portage-county-drainage-district-makes-farming-possible/.
— Wisconsin Potato & Vegetable Growers Association
For more news from Wisconsin, click here.