City Stays Dry During Heavy Rains

Madison, WI, October 04, 2013 --(PR.com)-- The City of Columbus, WI experienced severe flooding during 2008 that caused substantial property damage. The City hired Ruekert & Mielke, Inc. (R/M) during 2009 to analyze the sanitary, storm and drainage systems and to develop a comprehensive Flood Mitigation Plan.

Since 2009, the City and R/M have collaborated to implement several projects geared towards mitigating the risk of future floods. Some of these projects include: James Street Sanitary Interceptor Capacity upgrade, reducing sanitary sewer inflow and infiltration by rehabilitating sanitary sewers, constructing new storm water detention ponds and operational improvements such as the Department of Public Works cleaning and monitoring culverts.

The monitoring of rainfall and hydraulic elevations in the sanitary and drainage systems is performed by the Department of Public Works and the Emergency Operations Center. They have quantified that these improvements have resulted in reducing the peak runoff for a 100-year storm event from 83 cubic feet per second (cfs) to 19 cfs.

During June 2013, Columbus received 10.3 inches of rain, which is 7 inches above normal. This excess rainfall, along with an above average snow melt, drew flood warnings for rivers and streams throughout Columbia County and Southern Wisconsin. However, by implementing the recommendations of the Flood Mitigation Plan, the City of Columbus experienced little to no flooding following the higher than normal June 2013 rain events. Though it is not possible to completely eliminate any risk of flooding, the City’s focus on storm water management and flood mitigation has rewarded residents and business owners with a reduction of water levels in nearby drainage systems and waterways when challenged with heavy rains.

Ruekert & Mielke, Inc. offers a broad range of civil engineering and municipal services that serve municipal sector clients in southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois. R/M works together with clients to assist with municipal and transportation engineering, water and wastewater management, electrical engineering and SCADA control systems, storm water management, municipal and financial planning, construction review services, and GIS and asset management projects. R/M has been Serving Local People and Solving Local Problems since 1946.