Drainage

We recognize that drainage in town needs improvement. Annually, staff are tasked with focusing on specific local problem areas. Sometimes this work takes just a couple of days and other times it requires working with engineers to ensure proposed improvements fall in line with WSA standards and won’t cause issue further downstream. In 2017\2018 the Town had an engineering drainage study done. All storm water in Town is meant to flow north to Cottonwood Creek. Based on the study, it was determined that the Town only had a few inches of elevation changes from our southern boundary to our northern boundary. The flat land creates unique challenges for managing runoff. With the WSA requirements for a 1 in 100 year storm scenario, the Town would be required to build a drainage channel from Town all the way to Cottonwood Creek. The drainage study estimated it would cost just under $1 million to complete the channel and Town drainage improvements. However, in late 2018, Council decided to stop as the price of the work associated with the drainage was more than anticipated.  For now, council continues to focus on problem areas within the town while staff continue with regular drainage maintenance.

Drainage continues to be a priority for Council, and we continue to explore other options and funding opportunities to allow us to complete the project identified in the 2017\2018 study.