News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
The City of Baxter is working toward passing a flood mitigation ordinance to protect flood proned communities.
The city is under a ten year flood plan. Code Enforcement Director Bob Lane said in the event of excess flooding, the city can ask for a detailed report of runoff water. He said although Baxter has adequate runoff areas, the ordinance is still needed for the growing city.
“That can be in the form of bumping the flood plan up to a 25 year, even a 50 year, and maybe even a 100 year,” Lane said. “What that is is how much water whatever history says has happened in the last 100 years building in an area detention and your sizing of your pipes and that type to handle that kind of water.”
Lane said other ways to mitigate flooding is digging ditches and detention ponds. He said as municipalities grow there are fewer areas where water can run through without flooding.
“Right now we’re just trying to control our runoff as good as we can to not affect nobody else,” Lane said. “The law says that at the end of post construction the water can’t leave the lot no more than it did on pre construction.”
There are two types of property grounds: pervious, which can absorb water, and non-pervious, which cannot absorb water like rooftops and roads.
Lane said he is leading the way to draft a new ordinance or amendment to an existing ordinance. He said he plans to present the council with the draft in the next council meeting in September.
