Conservancy Board is Steward of Scioto River

For 100 years, the Upper Scioto Drainage and Conservancy District Board of Directors has overseen the flow of the 36 miles of the Scioto River through Hardin County.

The local board was the first conservancy district board in Ohio, said President Gary Oates.

Legislation was passed in 1914 in response to the floods of that year and the year before, he explained.

The Hardin County portion of the Scioto River was the first board to be formed and approved in February 1915 with its original members being William McGuffey, Charles Smith and Parlee Robinson.

The first responsibility of the board was to clean the river and assist with the drainage of the marsh in the western portion of the county.

The draining of the marsh had started as early as the 1870s, said Oates, but with limited success until the river was blasted to remove the larger rocks in the stream.

“The marsh was hard to drain because it was so flat,” said Oates. “There is less than a foot and a half of fall through the entire marsh area.” 

Originally, continued Oates, only those who lived in the flood plain were assessed for the conservancy district’s services.

In many cases, said member Jan Layman, the costs were so extravagant, it forced some area farmers out of business.

“We lost farmers in the marsh area during the Depression because they owed more for their assessment than they paid for their farms,” Layman said. 

Records in the district’s office show some farmers were assessed as much as $26 per acre in 1922.

“That was a lot of money then,” said Layman.

“I wouldn’t want to pay that now.”

The original sub-district of the district was in the Roundhead area between Ohio 67 and the county line, said Oates.

In 1924, the Cottonwood Ditch was brought into the conservancy district.

In 1985, the board agreed to spread out the assessment beyond the flood plain and include anyone who was in the 150,000 acres within the watershed.

As a result of the change, some farmers were assessed just pennies a year until the board decided in 2007 to make each assessment at least $2.

There have been other changes over the year, noted former legal advisor David Schwemer.

Until 15 years ago, he said, extra workers were hired to decide on the amount each property owner was to be assessed, using large county maps.

“That was a monumental job to do then,” said Schwemer.

“Maybe that is why they didn’t do it so often,” suggested Oates. 

Today, the assessment rates are computerized and sent out with property tax bills.

The Hardin Soil and Water Conservation District and Natural Resources Conservation Service provide engineering assistance on projects.

Board members are appointed by the common pleas court judge and are called out to check for log jams or slips on the bank in order to make sure the water gets away in a timely manner.

They are paid $50 per day for inspecting the river, attending meetings or helping in the office.

“It’s a long ways from big bucks,” joked Layman, who has been on the board since 1989.

Oates has been a member since 1991 and the newest member is Janice Shepherd, who was appointed in 2004.

“I make my living farming and three-fourths of the water on my farm goes to the Scioto River,” said Layman when asked why he continues to be a member of the board.

“It is in my best interest the river stay open.”

The Scioto starts out with the waters running smoothly, noted Oates.

It then hits the marsh lands where it remains flat for about eight miles, before falling again into the LaRue area.

Once the waters go through LaRue, the river again goes flat.

“It is hard to make water run when it is flat,” said Oates.

“Our job is to keep the river flowing and there are people in Marion County that holler because they think we do our job too well.” 

By DAN ROBINSON

Times staff writer