MORGANTOWN — There wasn’t a lot of new information to come out of the initial phase of the flood control study commissioned by the Morgantown Utility Board in the wake of last summer’s flooding.
One — It rained a whole bunch in Morgantown on June 13 and July 29 of 2021.
The storms resulted in unforgettable images of water surging down Patteson Drive, motorists perched atop their stranded vehicles and basements full of water.
Both events were classified as greater than 100-year storms, meaning storms with a less than 1% chance of occurring in a given year, much less twice in 50 days.
Six rain gauges recorded rainfall of up to 3.3 inches an hour during the June event. The gauges averaged 3.9 inches per hour on July 29.
Two — the areas identified as 100-year flood plains by the Federal Emergency Management Agency were primarily the areas flooded by 100-year rain events.
More than 40 of the identified flooding locations fell within the Burrough’s Run and Popenoe Run watersheds, including Patteson Drive.
Three — Building to handle a 100-year storm requires very large infrastructure, meaning a whole lot of money.
John Lyons of Strand Associates, the firm hired for $40,000 to conduct the study, said a very high-level estimate of projects that would allow Burrough’s Run and Popenoe Run to convey 100-year flows would likely total $30 million to $40 million at today’s prices.
The typical storm sewer system built to industry standards is designed to handle 10- to 25-year storms.
In the end, Lyons said, you have to balance the level of service desired against what you’re willing to pay for.
He compared the situation to game day traffic in Morgantown.
“So your level of service Saturday for your road network is going to be horrible … So you say to yourself as a community, ‘Will we live with that six times a year or do we want to build a road network that can convey that Saturday football traffic?’ The answer, generally, is you live with that inconvenience because you don’t want to pay for a network that is rarely going to be used,” Lyons said. “That’s the same challenge we’re going to have with the stormwater conveyance system. We’re going to have to balance out that cost and benefit.”
Further complicating the equation is the complexity of the system involved.
MUB’s system includes more than 13,000 storm/sewer segments totaling some 150 miles of buried infrastructure and more than 20 miles of open channels and ditches. It also includes roughly 6,000 individual storm structures, like catch basins and manholes.
It’s also tied to systems owned by the West Virginia Division of Highways and West Virginia University. WVU owns 439 parcels within MUB’s municipal separate storm sewer system (MS4) totaling roughly 1,800 acres of property.
It is for this reason that MUB has yet to green light Phase II of the study, which will come with a $300,000 price tag.
“We do intend to formally make requests of WVU and WV DOH for their financial participation,” MUB Spokesman Chris Dale said.
Phase II would include an evaluation of the expected level of service, further examination of the existing system, the identification of potential projects, an evaluation of removing properties within the floodplain, detailed hydrologic modeling, a review of local ordinances and building codes and community input sessions.
However, Lyons concluded, no matter what steps are ultimately taken they will not come with guarantees.
“I always get concerned when I do these types of projects that everyone’s expectations align with what we can really achieve. We cannot eliminate flooding. There’s always going to be a rain event that occurs that overwhelms whatever we design,” he said.
