Municipal mitigation
Comment here if you have information or opinions about what
caused the flooding and what can be done by the city of Madison and the Village
to prevent it. Topics to include: What’s being done by the Village and the
city? Whom should we all keep in touch with to ask for changes?
Comments
1)A bunch of the sewer pipes in our neighborhood are colored light green which the legend states means unknown diameter. How can we think about what needs to be done if we don't know the diameter of the current pipes? This includes the pipes on lower Shorewood, the pipes on upper Columbia, and the pipes that start just east of the pool.
2)Thin dark green pipes are "minor" in diameter, with the Swarthmore and lower Columbia pipes being designated minor.
3)An X represents "pipe end" and there is one of those at University and Farley.
4) There are very few storm drain inlets on Columbia or Swarthmore.
Kyle's thoughts on Sam Roth Park and other issues: I would like to ensure they are also exploring possible longterm investments about that could help take on the excess water that came with this event, when the sewer systems would go beyond its capacity. I have concerns about the utilization fo park behind our house since it seems to be under water quite a bit (is this normal for previous summers). I also wonder if there is a better place/way to direct the sewer overflow...away from the homes and businesses...to more natural areas that can collect and absorb the water.
Gloria's comments on the left-over railroad debris and other issues: the current engineering on Swarthmore/Purdue/(Columbia, too?) is set up for it to go to the storm drains on Purdue and Swarthmore lead to piping taking the water back to the ‘swale’ - the ditch running on the north side of the railroad tracks that is meant to be a water containment system holding the water until it can be absorbed into the ground. My understanding of Brian’s explanation is that the piping below the streets on Purdue and Swarthmore only direct water back to this swale and not to a larger storm drainage system. If my understanding is correct, once the swale is full, the under-street pipes become holding tanks for the water until the water absorbs into the ground and then of course once it’s all full, we will experience flooding. The railroad company, while restoring their tracks, failed to remove the gravel detritus caused by the flash flood washing out the tracks that remains in the swale, thereby reducing its ability to hold larger volumes of water. I feel this needs to be immediately addressed as this swale seems to be our primary mitigation for flooding and its ability to perform is now diminished.