HOMER, Neb. (AP) — Dakota County farmers along Pigeon Creek hope long-awaited dredging work will reduce the risk of flooding in the future.

Work began last week on a nearly $200,000 project to dredge about seven miles of the creek from U.S. Highway 77 near Homer to a bridge east of Hubbard.

The project will dredge silt in the creek that has built up over the past 30 to 40 years and is designed to increase the creek’s capacity to carry water in the wake of heavy rainfalls.

In June 2014, large amounts of rain caused levees along the creek to breach and hundreds of acres of farmland to flood.

Papio-Missouri River Natural Resources District general manager John Winkler says funding for the Pigeon Creek project was transferred from an Omaha-area project.