By Mike Kruzman / news@whmi.com


The Livingston County Drain Commissioner gave his annual report with insights to flooding, infrastructure, PFAS, and more.

Drain Commissioner Brian Jonckheere presented his annual report to the Livingston County Board of Commissioners at their online Finance Committee Meeting, Wednesday. After worries regarding turnover last year, Jonckheere said that is no longer case, as he has potentially his best team in 24 years of service. Aging infrastructure continues to be a concern, with Jonckheere quipping how the dams that gave out in mid-Michigan look new compared to some of Livingston County’s drains. Increased weather-related impacts and run-off from new developments have put a strain on the system.

Jonckheere said his office spends a large portion of their time dealing residents who are frustrated with flooding and explained the obstacles in the way of getting it fixed. He said most of the county drains were built to serve one farmstead for every quarter section. But then subdivisions started coming in and adding thousands of times the water runoff. Under law, the drain commission can only maintain, and if residents want drains enlarged or improved, it requires them to petition. Jonckheere said that a lot of their daily business is informing people that if they want a solution for their flooding problems, they need to get with their neighbors and start the petition process.

Jonckheere talked about the Livingston Regional Water Authority, their largest system, and how the septage receiving station is 2-million gallons ahead in the first 6 months of the year compared to last year, due to people being home because of COVID-19. While that has allowed them to lower prices because of increased revenue, Genesee County, which is the final destination for the flow, has put an ultimatum on reducing the flow or stream, which the Drain Commission’s office is working on.

When addressing the PFAS problem, Jonckheere said they are waiting for the hammer to fall from the state. He called it a no-win situation for wastewater as they can’t control what gets into the wastewater. Jonckheere said the primary way to deal with it is with carbon treatment. If the state requires that, to which Jonckheere said the writing is on that wall that they will, it will drive an enormous cost to those utilities which will get passed on to the users.

Finally, Jonckheere called the COVID-19 situation a wake-up call for communities. He cautioned that because of how staffing works, basic services could be lost if the wrong person gets infected down the road. As a result, he said he is working on beginning a program to cross train individuals from different municipalities on each other’s systems, should an important person be stricken and unable to work.