MASON, Mich. — The recent rain has left many people in Mason with severe flooding. The Ingham County Storm Drain Commission employs several tactics in storm water management, one of which is to redirect storm water to open grassed areas such as swales and lawns.
However, people like Mason resident Nick Perfitt live and work in these areas.
"After they got done with the road construction on Meridian Road, they put in new culverts in the drain system. I was over there when they were digging it up and noticed that the catch basin was half the size as the drain culverts coming across under Meridian, and I asked the supervisors and the engineers at the time how this was gonna work, and they said it would take the water," Perfitt said. "Well as you can see, it doesn't, and now, I've got a four-acre lake."
The flooding has left a total of seven acres of Perfitt's farm land unusable.
"This is all hay field and going to be hay field again, and I'm starting to turn it into an orchard. I have numerous small apple trees planted all through there. I'll probably lose all those, and it's definitely not going to be usable land," said Perfitt.
Although redirecting the storm water helps the county prevent contamination into local water supply, it isn't without flaws. In the meantime, Mason residents are using sump pumps to keep their homes dry.
"My sump pump runs about every minute and a half during these times, and I can't, if we would have lost power, it would have been bad," Perfitt said.
Perfitt says he's contacted the drain commission and the road department but hasn't received a solution from either.
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