VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. — A Volusia County farmer said back-to-back hurricanes brought floodwaters up to his chest in his field, causing him to lose nearly half of his crop.
John Joshlin and his wife run Common Ground Farm, an organic farm off East Taylor Road in DeLand. While he said it has flooded before, he has never seen it flood to the extent that it did after hurricanes Ian and Nicole in the 15 years they’ve owned the property.
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“We lost some crops but we have a lot of neighbors who have lost homes a lot of property damage and stuff so it’s not just us it’s the whole area here,” he said. “This is just the first time it’s been bad enough to reach our farm.”
Joshlin said two wet summers combined with back-to-back hurricanes and increased development in the area contributed to the flooding.
“They are taking up the wetlands where the water can kind of disperse out and over soak into the ground so that’s impacted it too,” he said.
Joshlin said he has some ideas he believes the county and city can implement to keep it from flooding this bad again. He said that includes better drainage and more retention ponds as well as better foresight with development.
“We asked for some type of mechanism where we can work between the county and city to see that there’s a little more thought given to surrounding these developments when they are designed,” he said.
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The city of DeLand said it’s been in talks with county staff on steps to mitigate flooding in the future but has not found a solution yet. The city added that the developments in the area follow what it says are the stringent guidelines set by the St. Johns Water Management Authority.
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