Project Highlight: Adobe Dam / Desert Hills Area Drainage Master Plan
Location
Maricopa County, AZ
Client
Flood Control District of Maricopa County
Project Leads
Pat Quinn, Project Manager
Jeff Despain, Project Engineer
Ted Lehman, Hydrology, Flood Response Plan
Jon Fuller, Geomorphology
Problem
- Successful implementation of the Skunk Creek Watercourse Master Plan was largely dependent upon prudent watershed management in the Adobe Dam / Desert Hills ADMP study area.
- The piecemeal development in the area, without the benefit of master planning, resulted in significant alternations to runoff characteristics and drainage patterns in the watershed.
- There was a need to preserve and/or provide watercourse capacity to convey future condition flows in Skunk Creek, the axial watercourse in the study area.
Approach
- JEF applied state-of-the-art methodologies in inventorying existing watershed conditions and in analyzing existing and future hydrologic, hydraulic, and geomorphologic conditions.
- JEF involved residents and coordinated with agency stakeholders throughout the development of the area drainage master plan to facilitate successful implementation.
Solution
- JEF recommended a drainage master plan comprised of structural and non-structural solutions to address identified problems and build a consensus-based solution for multiple objectives.
- JEF developed regulatory tools for use by agencies to manage future development and prepared a prioritized, risk-based assessment of existing residential structures located in the floodplain.
- JEF prepared a watershed-wide flood response plan to provide flood warning to residents and to identify action protocols for use by emergency responders during flood events.