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Illinois farmers thankful for flood risk management efforts

Farmers along the cresting Illinois River say they are thankful for flood risk management efforts this spring.

Rick Bull has farm ground that borders the river in Fulton County, but he says all of his ground is safe because of the pumping done in his drainage district.

“If we didn’t have the pumps, it would all be completely flooded. We feel like the future looks a little better than it did a week ago.”

Marc Briney farms down river in Schuyler County where one more rain could cause their levee to breech. He says water is seeping from the levee, but sand bagging efforts have kept the water from flooding his fields so far.

“I just know that we were very pleased with the Army Corps of Engineers pitching in and working closely with us. I think people need to be able to reach out to them more and more.”

Briney says a lot is riding on the weather in the coming says. He says fields that have standing water will need at least three weeks of dry weather before they can be planted.