RAPID CITY, S.D. (KEVN) - A hillside on northern Star Village has been eroding badly for some 50 years, in such a way that Dan Driscoll with the West Dakota Water Development District says, “it’s already out of hand and it would just continue getting out of hand.”

Driscoll has been working with a few guys a day since the start of summer “and we’re trying to revegetate the area. It’ll be a slow project over time.”

He guesses it will take somewhere between five and ten years to cover the affected “five acres that’s in bad shape.”

One of the dangers of the erosion causes sediment to spill into Rapid Creek. Their efforts to introduce vegetation will help stop the flow of the sediment, “thus improving water quality and the ecological conditions of the stream.”

One of the tactics utilizes an erosion blanket where over the last few days they’ve placed top soil, seeded and fertilized the area and laid the blanket it on top.

“The idea is that it will help hold the sediment in place. There’s actually straw interwoven in fibers there so it’ll hold in moisture and give the grass a chance to germinate and grow,” says Driscoll.

The erosion blanket doesn’t help the deep crevasses known as gully’s, because they are too steep need to be filled first. To do so, they use woddles, which are black bags filled with woodchips. They stop things from flowing through the gully’s, further deepening them. They instead hope to catch and fill up the areas with shale.

“At some point in time we’ll begin to revegetate. So,” says Driscoll, “if we can get it started it should take care of itself eventually.”

The project is in desperate need of volunteer help.

To volunteer, get in contact with Dan Driscoll.

Dan’s Information

email: drdrisco@yahoo.com

cell: (605) 348-2557

home: (605) 209-0305

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