‘Zoom in’ for new flooding maps in upcoming public information meetings

posted September 29, 2020 – 3:24pm

The City of Madison Engineering Division invites the public, especially in two specific watershed areas of the City, to virtually attend its next two watershed meetings. Even though COVID-19 has prevented the typical in-person meetings from happening, engineers are working diligently to provide possible flooding solutions for the community.

A watershed is the area of land where all precipitation (rain, snow, etc.) that falls on it, drains to a common waterway, such as a stream, lake, wetland, aquifer or even the ocean.

The Greentree/McKenna watershed drains to the south toward the Upper Badger Mill Creek ponds near Prairie Ridge Park. The Dunn’s Marsh watershed drains to Dunn’s Marsh on the south side of the City of Madison.

The next two meetings will be focused on the Dunn’s Marsh Watershed and Greentree/McKenna Watershed. Engineers will share new maps that show results of flooding in the specific watersheds during the following two meetings:

Dunn’s Marsh Watershed Study Virtual Public Information Meeting No. 2
- 6-8 p.m., Sept. 30, 2020
- Hosted on Zoom
- Register in advance.
Greentree/McKenna Watershed Study Virtual Public Information Meeting No. 2
- 6-8 p.m., Oct. 1, 2020
- Hosted on Zoom
- Register in advance.

What to expect during the virtual meetings
Engineers will present updated maps for the Dunn’s Marsh and Greentree/McKenna watersheds. The maps were created with information from flood overflow surveys, in-person meetings with residents and stormwater monitoring equipment data.

Engineers installed the monitoring equipment in specific areas in the watershed to measure rain depth and water depth in the storm sewer pipe or channel. Engineers also had in-person, small, socially-distanced meetings with some residents in some areas to understand the issues with the worst flooding in the watershed. The results were then used to create flood mapping to show where the flooding issues are in the watershed. The maps will be shown at the upcoming public information meetings for the public to review and confirm the information that was gathered.

The City of Madison Engineering Division launched its Watershed Studies in May 2018. During the studies, Engineers will work with nine watershed areas to determine flooding issues and how to design a more resilient stormwater system. This is a continued effort to address areas hardest hit by flooding from August 2018.

Watershed studies progress timeline:

Aug. 2018: Historic Flooding event
2019-2020: Watershed Studies for nine areas began
Spring 2019-Fall 2020: Public Information Meeting No. 1, Focus Groups
Spring 2020- Spring/Summer 2021: Public Information Meeting No. 2, Focus Groups
Upcoming:
- Winter/Spring 2021: Public Information Meeting No. 3 (proposed solutions for Strickers/Mendota, Pheasant Branch, Spring Harbor, West Wingra watersheds)
- Additional Public Information Meetings for watershed studies still in progress will be scheduled and announced at a later date.