How should the city fix flooding problems?

The most important thing is to NOT DESPAIR that these flooding problems can be resolved. The second is to acknowledge that the City of Evansville is not a “they” but a “we.” The answers to this question can only be found by asking how “we” are going to fix the flooding problems. Since we all contribute to the problem, we all must become part of the solution.

“We” need to know that it is a mischaracterization to describe the flooding problems as occurring in “some local neighborhoods.” The map of the Evansville’s flooded properties prepared 10 years ago marked the locations of seriously affected areas with red dots. One can see from this map that the flooding problems are a pox all over the city, east to west and north to south. Gravity flow and combined sewers do conspire to create the worst and most widespread flooding in SE Evansville.

As new areas have been “improved” (the landscape’s profile elevated with aggregate material and fill) and “developed” (built upon and/or paved) the new developments have created or exacerbated flooding in the old. My neighborhood was mostly developed 30-40 years ago and at that time, neighborhoods to the south and west started to experience flooding problems. Now it is my neighborhood that is suffering from the continued development to the north and east. Property owners in the newer areas need to recognize that, unless things change, you will find that just about the time you have your mortgage paid off, “Flooding will be coming to a neighborhood near you.”

Furthermore, inadequate provisions for the water displaced by new developments adversely affects community property as well as private. Raising the Lloyd Expressway shifted flooding to the Roberts Stadium. The new Deaconess Gateway and Womens Hospitals and Medical Complex have created water problems at the Crossroads Christian Church and so on. We can run but we cannot hide from this problem.

We need to re-engineer our storm water management in 3 main areas of challenge: Civil Engineering, Financial Engineering and Political Engineering.

Civil Engineering solutions are the most straightforward and will involve further efforts along the lines of what has already been started: expansions of water treatment capacity, infrastructure improvements to sewer lines, provisions for short-term, on-site storm water retention, upgrades and maintenance of established drainage routes, acquisition of properties to restore watersheds along routes that never should have been developed and acquisition of properties that are in low lying depressions that can never be adequately protected against flooding.

Financial Engineering solutions have been one of the stumbling blocks to the plans for flood corrections in the recent past. Complicating both the civil and financial issues are the more than 200 miles of combined (storm and sanitary) sewers in Evansville. The storm water carrying capacity of the combined sewers has been used, instead, to carry the sanitary sewer lines of newer developments that have been built, since the early 1980’s, under upgraded building codes requiring larger diameters. The older sewer lines are now overwhelmed and some back up from storms as ordinary as 2 inches of rain in 2 hours.

At this point, it makes more sense to start to separate the financing of storm and sanitary sewers as the USEPA and Justice Departments are negotiating a consent decree with the City of Evansville regarding the need to separate the commingled sewers and to drastically reduce the number of combined sewer overflow (CSO) events that dump untreated sewage into the Ohio River.

The basic ideas for the Financial Engineering are:

Ø The Water & Sewer Utility would continue to fund their work with monthly billing of user fees for sanitary water and sanitary sewer services.

Ø A Storm Water Management District would be established and funded based on a charge per square footage of the impermeable surfaces, or “footprint,” on a piece of property. The District could grant rebates or add surcharges based on whether the property has been altered to provide on-site retention for storm runoff (rebate) or to accelerate the storm runoff onto surrounding areas (surcharge).

Political Engineering is the thorniest challenge. If it were not, effective measures to resolve flooding would already be in place. Mayor Jonathan Weinzapfel set in motion valuable forums:

Ø The monthly Traveling City Hall meetings provide opportunities for every resident, taxpayer and voter to connect with Evansville’s city administrators regarding their ideas and requests. The next meeting will be Thursday, January 11^th at 5:30-7:30 PM in the Stringtown Elementary School Cafeteria at 4720 Stringtown Rd.

Ø The latest in a 10-year series of public meetings of Storm Water and CSO Task Forces have begun. The 6 months that these Task Forces meet will be just so much more time and opportunity squandered if political will and leadership are not there to support this work. The 3^rd Storm Water Task Force meeting will be held on Tuesday, January 9^th at 5:30 PM in the Browning Room A at the Central Library, 200 SE Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.

In addition to these Mayor sponsored efforts, other sources of Political Engineering are:

Ø UNOE, United Neighborhoods of Evansville, 428-4243 - www.unoevansville.org Neighborhoods who are not yet members of UNOE really must wake up, join in, add to and learn from this awesome civic organization whose mission is to preserve, enhance, and promote Evansville neighborhoods.

Ø CAJE, Congregations Acting for Justice and Empowerment, 425-8144 - www.thedartcenter.org/CAJE.html This organization draws together people of faith to act powerfully to address local community issues. Their focus for 2007 will be to address homelessness, which in Evansville is correlated to the needless individual and neighborhood impoverishment brought on by the recurrent flooding of homes.

Ø The Vanderburgh County Democratic and Republican parties. If our City Council members got the message from voters and party representatives of every precinct in their wards, repeatedly and in harmony, that “The City’s First Order of Business Must Be Flood Resolution,” then second order interests that keep bubbling up, such as stadium developments, might finally have to wait in line behind first order responsibilities. City Council members are:

Ø Jeff Kniese (R, Ward 1) 474-0727

Ø Council President & Public Works Chairman, Steve Bagbey (D, Ward 2) 436-4993

Ø Stephen Melcher (D, Ward 3) 428-4281

Ø Constance Robinson (D, Ward 4) 425-2372

Ø Angela Koehler Walden (R, Ward 5) 401-6969

Ø B.J. Watts (D, Ward 6) 424-4014

Ø Curt John (D, At Large) 428-0165

Ø Joe Kiefer (R, At Large) 401-7895

Ø Keith Jarboe (D, At Large) 402-0827

Local political party offices are:

Ø Democratic Party of Vanderburgh County, 464-9100, 200 SE 6^th St

Ø Republican Party Headquarters, 425-8207, 2226 N Fares Ave

Successful Political Engineering of our flooding problems is not simply a matter of concern of our elected leaders and Evansville’s residents/taxpayers/voters. Support and leadership for flood resolution must also come from all manner of leaders of our local institutions and associations such as: the Southwestern Indiana Builders Association; local insurance representatives; local financial leaders; commercial, public and private developers and contractors; business associations, particularly realtors and retailers; health care administrators and providers; attorneys, judges; pastors and religious leaders to name a few.

Our state representatives need to assist us in restraining abuses of Indiana’s “Common Enemy Doctrine.” This doctrine has been used as a fig leaf by municipalities and builders to hide behind when they authorize developments designed to shift water onto neighboring property. In the meantime, Evansville has begun to write overdue regulations of paving. We will need to see what is being accomplished by this ordinance as it is written.

Municipalities have a legal as well as a moral responsibility to maintain their sewer systems in a manner that does not flood property. Fixing the flooding problems will be expensive. Not fixing these problems until the courts hold us legally liable for the destruction of our neighbors’ homes, finances and health caused by our municipal neglect will be far more expensive.

It doesn’t have to be this way. Flooding is an ancient problem and means to resolve flooding have been worked out. We can do this!

Mary Blanc

4001 Bellemeade Ave

Evansville IN 47714

(h) 491-8410

mcblanc2004@yahoo.com