MILBANK - A project is proceeding to reassess Grant County's floodplain areas by updating and improving information on places most likely to sustain flooding in times of high water.

The effort is being done jointly by local, state and federal officials. It is funded at a cost of more than $100,000 from a federal grant, with state funding of $15,000 to convert the information to digital map form.

In the process, portions of three Grant County townships were omitted, which is the area where a Minnesota firm wants to build a large hog confinement operation.

Teton Gilts was denied a county permit, in part because of fears that manure spread on area fields could enter the Big Sioux River.

County officials insist there is no connection between the flood-plain study and the proposed hog farm.

Karen Layer, county auditor, said no one is sure how the 32 square miles of land in Farmington, Blooming Valley and Lura townships were left out of the project. She said the Federal Emergency Management Agency has agreed to pay the bulk of the extra $21,000 it will cost to map those missing townships.

The entire project is expected to take about two years.

Layer said flood plain mapping, which hasn't been revised for more than 30 years in the county, is valuable when it comes to construction of new homes and farms. Mortgage companies often call for the information when people apply for real estate loans, she said.

"Right now, we don't have that data available," Layer said of the western townships.