City's storm water plan a decade in the making

The rumble of thunder, lighting flashing across the sky--what started as a beautiful day on the plains now has the potential of becoming a major storm. Rain begins to fall, followed shortly by chunks of hail. Roof drains, street gutters and surrounding hills are gushing with water. The torrent begins to surge to the center of town with such speeds and force that it could sweep adults off their feet. The 10th avenue viaduct is underwater and closed; Lodgepole Creek is full of water.

It's a scenario city engineers and elected officials consider often, one highlighted by clogged drains, flooded basements and worse.

Though dry much of the year—especially over the past few summers—Sidney experienced 82 floods of greater or lesser degree between 1950 and 2010.

Plans to control the storm water drainage date back to 1962. Over the past ten years, however, the city and the South Platte Natural Resources District have collaborated on a solution that may be coming close to a vote.

In 2003 the city of Sidney hired an engineering firm to study the problem. A plan was developed for drainage parallel to Fort Sidney Road. In 2009 the city requested a completed study on storm water drainage and hired W Designs Associates. Their research found that the city needed to control water runoff that floods the Parklands Subdivision. This involved the installation of a new 60-inch storm sewer on Fort Sidney Road, which would give storm water runoff a direct route to Lodgepole Creek.

WDA also recommended that the city develop a drainage ordinance, now before the Sidney City Council.

To put in place all of the recommendation by WDA would have cost the city and its taxpayers millions of dollars. In 2003 the city was in need of a secure source for drinking water, with most of the cities funding going in that direction.

“We had to come up with a long term source, you can’t live without water,” City Manager Gary Person explained.

The plan now under consideration will incorporate the use of green technology and limited hard construction. Ordinance 1699 will make construction of storm drainage the responsibility of the developer on any new projects.

Public Services Director John Hehnke said, “We have been working jointly with the South Platte Natural Resource District with the East Sidney Drainage We have let the SPNRD review Sidney’s ordinance so they can see what we can do for the drainage area but the city is putting additional measures and controls in place that we can deal with storm drainage community wide and help with water quantity water quality standards into Lodgepole Creek which effects people down stream and people here in Sidney.”

The plan uses the natural landscape to slow the water and ponds to capture water, with slow drainage keeping the force of the water to a minimum.

“If you get a large rain event, there is a lot of energy moving through there,” SPNRD General Manager Rod Horn pointed out.

The plans designers, Olsson Associates, expect that by using Bio Retention Ponds the city will be eligible for grants and low interest loans. Each pond will be equipped with a slow drawdown water quality outlet allowing for water to be released over a longer period of time. This will allow the infiltration and removal of pollutants from roadways, parking lots, agricultural land.

Horn said, “This is conceptual it’s not absolute when we start moving forward with this there will be refinements and changes as we go along, we need to adapt accordantly.”