Flooding Is Easy. Flood Prevention Is Hard.

COMMUNITY NEWS

* Mayor Jessica Anderson’s response was not available at press time so we are updating this article with her comments.

“Over the past few days, our town has faced one of the most intense weather events on record. First and foremost, our hearts go out to those whose homes or businesses have been devastated by the storm. We want to make sure everyone knows that the Town is (here/doing everything we can) to help,” said Chapel Hill Mayor Jessica Anderson in an email to TLR Thursday morning.

Mayor Anderson reflected that in recent years, has taken steps to improve stormwater management in the area near Eastgate and town-wide. This has included the construction of the Booker Creek Basin Park in 2021, an agreement with University Place to add 100-year stormwater functionality as the mall redeveloped, adoption of stronger, 100-year stormwater standards for all new development in 2024, and creation of a new Natural Features model to support land-use decision-making and policy updates in 2025.

“Unfortunately, many of the structures that have flooded are built in a floodplain,” said Mayor Anderson, who said she has been working closely with town staff, the Chamber of Commerce, community partners, and others to help identify resources for affected residents and business owners. “No matter how many stormwater basins and other technologies we deploy, there is no way for us to capture all of the water in a 1,000-year storm.”

During their January 29th meeting, the town council discussed the town-wide stormwater plans and strategies with staff. They have asked the town’s stormwater management department to provide additional analysis of various green and grey stormwater options and programs in order to take a comprehensive, multi-prong approach to the issue.

CHAPEL HILL – Following Tropical Depression Chantal, the Talbot’s clothing store in the Eastgate Crossing shopping center has “mannikins just floating around, or in piles of dirty muck,” local resident John Morris said in an interview. “I think the water was five feet high in those stores.”

A couple of years ago, Morris, a former director of the North Carolina Division of Water Resources, was part of a working group established by Chapel Hill to develop better solutions for protecting the town from floodwater. Monday’s flooding, he said, was much worse than the storm event that eventually led to the creation of the Booker Creek Working Group.

The Tale of Booker Creek

The Booker Creek watershed covers 1.8 square miles in the northern part of Chapel Hill. In the 21st century, flooding there has grown worse as the number of heavy rainstorms has increased, and due to the growth in “impervious” square footage, such as roofs and sidewalks.

In 2014, Chapel Hill adopted a stormwater control plan with three goals: to tackle flooding, minimize the amount of pollutants in stormwater runoff, and protect and restore natural streams. In 2018, the town’s engineering contractor conducted a study of the Lower Book Creek sub-watershed, examining how the town manages flooding in the area and identifying potential improvements. A 2021 Local Reporter article described some of the report’s findings:

22 % of the watershed is impervious. Even a 10 % impervious area can be enough to cause problems.
During a heavy rain, water flows fast down the area’s steep upper slopes, then pools in low-lying areas such as Fordham Boulevard and the Eastgate shopping center.
The local soils absorb water slowly.

The study recommended 11 projects to address flooding, including seven storage basins to hold floodwater and reduce the runoff. The town adopted the basin projects, but some residents objected. The critics argued that building the basins would destroy the forest and wildlife habitat while having little effect on flooding. Instead, they asked the town to address flooding issues through a “comprehensive green infrastructure policy.”

The town built one of the proposed basins, located between Eastgate and S. Elliot Rd., and then, in 2021, dropped its support for building the other six. The Town Council established the Booker Creek Working Group to explore alternative options.

The working group issued its final report in 2023. Morris, the group’s co-chair, said at the time that the group didn’t see the basins as a solution: the Willow Drive basin, for example, “was going to cost $4.6 million. It also had a significant environmental impact, as it would result in the cutting of 15 acres of forest. Along Willow Dr., there are 26 structures located in the 25-year floodplain. And this $4.6 million project, with the loss of 15 acres of forest, would mean that only three of those would no longer be in the floodplain.”

The group concluded that even if the basins were built, most properties endangered by flooding would still be at risk.

The working group looked at other local governments’ best practices for managing stormwater for alternatives. Their final report made 10 recommendations, including regulating stormwater runoff from new development — something the town already did — managing development in flood plains and flood-proofing buildings. The report’s introduction said the recommendations “shift the Town’s stormwater goal from preventing flooding to incorporating this goal within a broader goal of reducing flood damages to homes and businesses.”

Like the basin proposal, this idea generated debate and opposition. The Triangle Blog Blog questioned how well the proposals would work in practice, and whether restrictions on future development would do anything to help residents in Camelot Village and other low-lying areas that flood already. The blog also inquired whether the real goal of the group’s members was to prevent flooding or set limits on Chapel Hill development.

Morris said it’s difficult to control floodwater when a community is already developed; reducing flood damage by elevating buildings, floodproofing them or relocating them is a more practical goal. “I think there’s some things in this report that would be beneficial to the town. There are no magic solutions. There’s a pattern of worldwide weather change which includes much more intense rainstorms and longer droughts.”

Fraser Sherman has worked for newspapers, including the Destin Log, the Pensacola News-Journal and the Raleigh Public Record. Born in England, he’d still live in Florida if he hadn’t met the perfect woman and moved to Durham to marry her. He’s the author of several film reference books and has published one novel and several short story collections. This reporter can be reached at: Information@TheLocal Reporter.press