Pretty as it may well be now, all of that snow is eventually going to melt. That means storm water issues may again come to the forefront in a lot of Christiansburg citizen’s minds. The potential for problems is compounded by the fact that prior to the snow, the ground was pretty much saturated all ready. This means less absorption and more run off. This means that any sites where storm water management techniques were not adequate previously are likely to become even worse. The rate at which the snow melts will be of extreme importance in watching out for problems.
On another note, storm water does eventually end up in creeks and streams. How do the material applied to the road to clear them affect these? I’ll refer you to a group that knows a lot more about snow than I do. The University of Michigan has a nice Occupational Saftey and Environmental Health: Storm Water website that provides a lot of information, including best management practices. Interesting read while you’re snowed in! Do keep an eye out for those storm water drains near you that are now covered in snow and ice. If there are any items buried within that snow that can fill or block that drain, problems are likely to arise!
In the meantime, a few prayers that the snow melts very, very slowly might be in order. Me? I’m going to start building a boat at the Depot and have it ready. If we’ve got flooding problems already and snow falling in record levels, the effects of the annual Spring melt should be interesting. Enjoy the snow but be ready to deal with the side effects.
Quincy
December 20, 2009 at 2:10 pm
WHile I do feel for the folks who have suffered problems over in C’burg from flooding, you did choose to have a building in a flood zone. I do accept that the Town has done a poor job of working to limit runoff and flooding problems, but it was still a flood zone. If you want to eliminate your problems with the flooding, then you’re going to have to move…because I don’t see how it’s every going to not flood down in Cambria unfortunately, even with a lot of improvements. Some places people just need to not build, like along the Mississippi for example.
Carol Lindstrom
December 20, 2009 at 6:59 pm
Being in a flood plain isn’t the issue. It has been in a flood plain forever! However, this is the first such flooding and it followed the installation of new sidewalk and parking setup and a lot of new construction uphill that generated a lot more storm water. The simple equation is that: increase amount of stormwater and do not increase the capacity of the storm water system to handle what you increased and you have a problem. Add to that that if the level of the road had not been raised approx. 20″, then there would not have been a dam holding that water into one area. Even the FEMA inspector reported that the flooding was due to problems with the stormwater system. The system that was put in was not adequate. Maintenance must also be done on storm water drain systems. Other jurisdictions have an annual flush of the system in order to insure that blockages and debris are removed from the system. The only maintenance I’ve seen the Town do on that part of the system was to have trucks out the morning after the flood pumping out all of the dirt, silt, gravel, and trash that was filling the storm drains so that the water would have a place to go. Most of that stuff came from uphill construction sites where no storm water management techniques had been in place. The Town was notified on multiple occasions for 3 years prior to the flood of the river of mud and trash flooding down Depot and into those drains. Had the Creek flooded, that would be different. That natures, not negligence or laziness.
Quincy
December 21, 2009 at 12:57 pm
Ah, thanks for the additional explanations on the back story behind it all. Definitely sounds like the Town needs to do a lot better with handling the stormwater. I live in a place where there’s no stormwater management of any kind, it just goes wherever it can. Thankfully we don;t have flooding problems where we’re at, but we also don’t have the kind of development and poor control that C’burg has. Best of luck in getting the Town to fix things, I have a feeling it’s up the proverbial creek without a sump pump.
Carol Lindstrom
December 21, 2009 at 8:34 pm
Thanks for your encouragement. It has been (and will remain, I fear) a long hard battle. Growth is going to happen. It is how it is managed that makes the difference between success or failure in the management of stormwater. Keep your eyes open in your area. If growth starts, keep our story in Christiansburg in mind. In fact, some pre-planning for growth in your areas codes wouldn’t hurt. Perhaps others can learn from the mistakes made here.