Brewster initiates flood study to mitigate potential disaster in Swamp Creek Area

BREWSTER – City officials inaugurated a flood study of the Swamp Creek drainage/Rat Lake area along Paradise Hill Road at a virtual kickoff meeting last month with representatives of the National Resources and Conservation Service (NRCS), USDA, and DJ&A engineering, surveying, and environmental consultants from Missoula, Montana.

The study, funded by a USDA grant, is researching alternative strategies to potential flooding scenarios outlined in an updated FEMA map that would negatively affect a large area of city residential and commercial property.

“We outlined all the documents and data that those folks need, so we’re still gathering those,” said city public works director Lee Webster. “But we seem to be moving fairly quickly.”

Quickly as in a tour of the trouble spot in question.

“We do have a site visit on March 14,” said Webster. “A show-and-tell of the structures, the drainage way, and the floodway. Until you actually go see it and walk it it’s just numbers on a paper and pictures.

The FEMA map projects a worst-case, 100-year flood event that would affect a large swath of city residences and businesses if unchallenged.

“All that (property) in the floodway would no longer be able to get a building permit for new construction,” said public works director Lee Webster. “If something happens to their building and they want to get a building permit to repair it they can’t get one.”

Tyler Andron, vice president of Floodproofing.com in Mt. Royal, New Jersey, spoke with The Quad about the Brewster flood maps.

“They are preliminary and that is good,” said Andron “They (the city) do this restudy and they can change the maps and it will happen a lot quicker.”

Andron added that if the study tried to change adopted, FEMA maps it could take a decade, and during that interim, any affected properties would need to carry flood insurance.

In its various designations, the FEMA flood zone takes in about one-third of the city.

Webster said the FEMA scenario projects as much as 1,260 cubic feet a second of flood water rushing over Highway 97.

Mike Maltais: 360-333-8483 or michael@ward.media