Officials discussing drainage basin plan

Web posted July 18, 2000

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By Heidi Coryell
Staff Writer

A proposed detention pond for the Crane Creek drainage basin has been on the books for more than 30 years, but state and local officials met Monday afternoon to discuss the project and say they are officially one step closer to making it a reality.

STAFF

The holding area, if funded, would lessen flooding at Interstate 20 and in some residential areas close to the highway, including west Augusta's Commonwealth subdivision.

Although local funds have never been made available to build the pond, officials with the Department of Transportation, county engineers, area engineering consultants and state Sen. Don Cheeks discussed at an informal meeting Monday possible ways to secure state and federal money for the project.

The Augusta Chronicle was denied access to the meeting, with officials citing the tentative nature of proposed plans.

``We're meeting today to try to get everybody, local and state, on board to solve a serious problem,'' Mr. Cheeks said.

Officials answered questions after the meeting.

State transportation engineers said that residential development built during the past decade is causing culverts at I-20 and Crane Creek to overflow whenever there are heavy rains. The culverts also are adjacent to Commonwealth-area homes on Dominion Court and Dominion Way.

But because I-20 is a federal flood evacuation route, there is the potential for both state and federal funds to become available to improve drainage in the area.

``It is the lowest point in the area, and it has proven to be a natural retention pond,'' Mr. Cheeks said.

The proposed detention pond, estimated to cost about $3.1 million, has been on public works' list of 1 cent sales tax projects for more than a decade. And a countywide drainage study identified the need for a detention pond in the Crane Creek basin in 1966.

``It's real easy to make recommendations, but it's difficult to fund them,'' said Drew Goins, assistant director for public works.

The project's price tag coupled with limited sales tax funding landed the pond 40 projects down on a list of 102.

But local and state officials say they have agreed to work together to expedite funding.

``The consensus is, we're trying to address the water before it gets to I-20,'' said David Griffith, a pre-construction engineer from DOT's Tennille office. ``We've got to have a study done to see what can actually be done, though.''

Officials estimate that studying the detention pond's feasibility would cost about $50,000.

``We have no money available to get anything done,'' county engineer Doug Cheek said. ``We're trying to get federal, state and local money together, and perhaps collectively we can help the problem. It's not an impossibility.''

Reach Heidi Coryell at (706) 823-3215.