With rain most of the day, the gage height at Beehunter Ditch has really shot up since 4PM and hit over seven feet now. The ditch, which runs along 12th Street, ultimately drains water from the City of Linton into the Goosepond area. Additional rain is predicted in the next few days.
Even after recent drainage improvements, which required an additional storm sewer fee to be added to utility customers’ monthly bills, the city still struggles with surface flooding. When this ditch’s gage height rises to this level, it is a good indicator that the City of Linton will have surface flooding issues in Humphreys’ Park, as well as several streets within the city, too.
Historically, seven feet height is on the top-end of what the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) measuring device, which is located just east of the intersection at Highway 54 East and 12th Street, has reported over the passed few years. The streamgage was installed by the USGS to monitor the waterflow just a few years ago.
In addition to monitoring the Beehunter Ditch, the USGS also has monitoring devices in two other locations in Greene County. The other two sites are located in Doans and Newberry, measuring the Doans Creek and White River, respectively.
The USGS is the science agency for the Department of the Interior, and it describes itself as “the Nation’s largest water, earth, and biological science and civilian mapping agency.” The USGS’s mission is to collect, monitor, and analyze natural resource conditions, issues, and problems, it states on its website.
All photos are file photos from February 28th, 2021.