MACON, Ga. — Neighbors in south Bibb County are considering their options after hearing more information on fixes for severe flooding in their neighborhood.
The Macon Water Authority thinks it may have a plan to fix the issue. Parts of that plan require federal approval, and that's where the neighborhood wants more answers. The water authority needs easements, or pieces of land they can legally maintain, from several homes on Francis Drive.
Monday afternoon, many in the neighborhood learned exactly where on their properties the proposed easements would go.
"I used to love the rain. Now, when I hear it raining, I get stressed out because I don't know what I'm going to wake up to," said Jan Crocker, who lives in the neighborhood.
Crocker's story is the case for many of her neighbors along Francis Drive in south Bibb County.
"2020 was devastating," she recalled. "I mean, I had a river in my backyard. There was a current."
In that flood, she lost two lawnmowers, and it doesn't stop there.
"A generator, and our back shed flooded," she remembered. "I lost my air conditioner."
Don't even get her started on her neighbor's trash can.
"Yeah, their trash can floated," she said.
This stuff has become the norm, she says.
"We have a system of drainage ditches, and I think some of them are blocked. And we had water coming from all directions," Crocker said.
The Macon Water Authority wants to fix those ditches. A couple weeks ago, they proposed a plan they believe will fix most of the problems on Francis Drive. It requires homeowners to sell bits of land for new drainage ditches, called easements. Crocker's yard is where one of the main arteries would go.
"There's already a ditch back there, but they're going to build another ditch about 30 feet from that ditch," Crocker said.
Monday afternoon, an engineer for the authority told homeowners on Francis Drive they can't use that ditch, because it may qualify as federal wetlands.
Crocker and others in the neighborhood weren't exactly pleased to hear that.
"That ditch was built to move the stormwater, so I don't know why they can't just widen it," she said.
Now, they're waiting on confirmation from the Army Corps of Engineers, which handles wetlands issues. The authority believes it's 'intermittent wetland,' which means there's flowing through the ditch for much of the year. If the Army Corps confirms it, the authority will need a permit to continue the work.
If the corps does not think the area is a wetland, they're not out of the woods. They may still have to clear the work with the state.