Post by dj on Oct 11, 2008 17:22:05 GMT -5
www.rrstar.com/communities/x1776787928/Improvement-plan-budgets-for-flood-control-storm-water-management
Improvement plan budgets for flood control, storm-water management
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JEFF KOLKEY | RRSTAR.COM
By Jeff Kolkey
RRSTAR.COM
Posted Oct 09, 2008 @ 09:34 PM
Last update Oct 09, 2008 @ 11:40 PM
ROCKFORD —
Floods in 2006 and 2007 twice decimated houses in John Ekberg’s Rolling Green neighborhood, southwest of Broadway and Alpine Road.
Ekberg said floodwaters flashed into his neighborhood and receded quickly. But it meted out considerable damage, caving in the foundation of his neighbor’s house.
Other neighborhoods in Rockford were worse off, he said.
That’s why his Rolling Green Neighborhood Association is closely monitoring Rockford’s storm-water management plans. Ekberg, a Winnebago County Board member, said he hopes the city comes through with improvements that could alleviate some of the flood risk, including a proposal to rehabilitate Alpine Dam next year.
The Rockford City Council on Tuesday will discuss a proposed five-year Capital Improvement Program that calls for $5.3 million worth of measures to better manage storm water and control flooding.
“What they are going to do in the Rolling Green area is try to contain some of the immediate flash-flood problems by having retention ponds,” Ekberg said. “When you build a subdivision now, there are large areas for surface water runoff. This neighborhood was built in the ’50s.”
Reconstructing Alpine Dam
Although most of the work will be done next year, the plan calls for spending about $1.1 million to rehabilitate Alpine Dam in Reuben Aldeen Park off Alpine Road in 2009 and 2010. It’s considered a high-hazard dam, meaning that large parts of Rockford would be devastated if it were to fail.
The 66-year-old dam has never failed.
But an analysis of the dam — a strong, earthen structure that contains floodwaters in Aldeen Park — called for the modernization and reconstruction of the graffiti-encrusted concrete spillway.
The work would include resurfacing the spillway with 12 inches of steel-reinforced concrete.
How the dam works
City officials are seeking certification for the dam from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers so that it will be eligible for grant-funded improvements in the future.
The dam is essentially a high mound of earth that contains and slows floodwaters from the northern branch of Keith Creek.
The creek flows through a primary outlet on the southern end of the dam. Floodwaters are slowed and contained in an expanse of low-lying, grassy parkland.
Once, in the early 1950s, water rose high enough to flow over the 100-foot-wide and 300-foot-long spillway on the north end of the dam, said Stormwater Program Director Brian Eber.
A baseball backstop in the basin was submerged, and water crept to the edge of the spillway during the Labor Day flood of 2006. If floodwaters rise high enough to flow over the spillway, the structure is designed to calm the water before directing it into the creek and eventually to the Rock River.
2006 flood in back of minds
Eber said the proposed work would make the dam taller, but by how much isn’t yet known.
“We want repairs that will suffice for another 50 years,” Eber said.
Passage of the an April 2007 sales tax referendum gave the city a reliable funding source for storm-water improvements.
“Historically we have not had this type of funding source that has now allowed us to put money toward this dam,” said Patrick Zuroske, Capital Improvement Program manager. “The flood on Labor Day of 2006 ... helped solidify our thinking in making it more of a priority, but the category and the funding for it was always part of the infrastructure sales tax approach. Those incidents made us understand, made the community understand the urgency of it.”
Staff writer Jeff Kolkey can be reached at 815-987-1374 or at jkolkey@rrstar.com.
Flood control projects under way
Storm-water master plan: The city’s first comprehensive storm-water assessment since 1981 is ongoing. The report is expected to recommend long-term solutions to flooding.
Churchill Park buyouts: Rockford has spent $7.9 million to buy 96 flood-prone properties in the Churchill Park neighborhood. The homes will be razed, and a larger water retention area will be created.
Alpine Dam emergency rehabilitation: Repairs to spillway and stilling basin along with other measures to improve performance of the dam in Aldeen Park are part of the city’s five-year Capital Improvement Program.
Keith Creek improvement project study: Erosion mitigation and bank stabilization continues as a study looks for long-term solutions to prevent future flooding, especially from the southern branch of Keith Creek.
Improvement plan budgets for flood control, storm-water management
Purchase this photo
JEFF KOLKEY | RRSTAR.COM
By Jeff Kolkey
RRSTAR.COM
Posted Oct 09, 2008 @ 09:34 PM
Last update Oct 09, 2008 @ 11:40 PM
ROCKFORD —
Floods in 2006 and 2007 twice decimated houses in John Ekberg’s Rolling Green neighborhood, southwest of Broadway and Alpine Road.
Ekberg said floodwaters flashed into his neighborhood and receded quickly. But it meted out considerable damage, caving in the foundation of his neighbor’s house.
Other neighborhoods in Rockford were worse off, he said.
That’s why his Rolling Green Neighborhood Association is closely monitoring Rockford’s storm-water management plans. Ekberg, a Winnebago County Board member, said he hopes the city comes through with improvements that could alleviate some of the flood risk, including a proposal to rehabilitate Alpine Dam next year.
The Rockford City Council on Tuesday will discuss a proposed five-year Capital Improvement Program that calls for $5.3 million worth of measures to better manage storm water and control flooding.
“What they are going to do in the Rolling Green area is try to contain some of the immediate flash-flood problems by having retention ponds,” Ekberg said. “When you build a subdivision now, there are large areas for surface water runoff. This neighborhood was built in the ’50s.”
Reconstructing Alpine Dam
Although most of the work will be done next year, the plan calls for spending about $1.1 million to rehabilitate Alpine Dam in Reuben Aldeen Park off Alpine Road in 2009 and 2010. It’s considered a high-hazard dam, meaning that large parts of Rockford would be devastated if it were to fail.
The 66-year-old dam has never failed.
But an analysis of the dam — a strong, earthen structure that contains floodwaters in Aldeen Park — called for the modernization and reconstruction of the graffiti-encrusted concrete spillway.
The work would include resurfacing the spillway with 12 inches of steel-reinforced concrete.
How the dam works
City officials are seeking certification for the dam from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers so that it will be eligible for grant-funded improvements in the future.
The dam is essentially a high mound of earth that contains and slows floodwaters from the northern branch of Keith Creek.
The creek flows through a primary outlet on the southern end of the dam. Floodwaters are slowed and contained in an expanse of low-lying, grassy parkland.
Once, in the early 1950s, water rose high enough to flow over the 100-foot-wide and 300-foot-long spillway on the north end of the dam, said Stormwater Program Director Brian Eber.
A baseball backstop in the basin was submerged, and water crept to the edge of the spillway during the Labor Day flood of 2006. If floodwaters rise high enough to flow over the spillway, the structure is designed to calm the water before directing it into the creek and eventually to the Rock River.
2006 flood in back of minds
Eber said the proposed work would make the dam taller, but by how much isn’t yet known.
“We want repairs that will suffice for another 50 years,” Eber said.
Passage of the an April 2007 sales tax referendum gave the city a reliable funding source for storm-water improvements.
“Historically we have not had this type of funding source that has now allowed us to put money toward this dam,” said Patrick Zuroske, Capital Improvement Program manager. “The flood on Labor Day of 2006 ... helped solidify our thinking in making it more of a priority, but the category and the funding for it was always part of the infrastructure sales tax approach. Those incidents made us understand, made the community understand the urgency of it.”
Staff writer Jeff Kolkey can be reached at 815-987-1374 or at jkolkey@rrstar.com.
Flood control projects under way
Storm-water master plan: The city’s first comprehensive storm-water assessment since 1981 is ongoing. The report is expected to recommend long-term solutions to flooding.
Churchill Park buyouts: Rockford has spent $7.9 million to buy 96 flood-prone properties in the Churchill Park neighborhood. The homes will be razed, and a larger water retention area will be created.
Alpine Dam emergency rehabilitation: Repairs to spillway and stilling basin along with other measures to improve performance of the dam in Aldeen Park are part of the city’s five-year Capital Improvement Program.
Keith Creek improvement project study: Erosion mitigation and bank stabilization continues as a study looks for long-term solutions to prevent future flooding, especially from the southern branch of Keith Creek.