Barry Raborn, president of Willow Creek's neighborhood association, points out erosion from flood damage to the neighborhood. Willow Creek residents have attempted to warn city officials that another flood may hurt the Augusta National Golf Club and further hurt the neighborhood. CHRISTINE DE LESSIO/STAFF

Willow Creek's residents warn of flood

Web posted October 6, 1998

By Sylvia Cooper
Staff Writer

Residents of a west Augusta subdivision off Berckmans Road say the next flood may bring catastrophe to their neighborhood and Augusta National Golf Club's course, but city officials won't heed the warning.

``It's like a dangerous intersection that all officials know is a danger, but they wait until three people are killed until they put up a light,'' said Barry Raborn, president of the Willow Lake Homeowners Association.

With every flood, Rae's Creek overflows and seeks its old creek bed through the middle of Willow Lake, floods part of Willow Lake subdivision and erodes the lake's banks.

If the banks break, the lake would flood homes and do tremendous damage to Augusta National, which the homeowners association could not afford to repair, Mr. Raborn said.

Willow Creek subdivision has major flood problems that stem from Rae's Creek. Recently, the creek rose 10 feet and flowed at up to 8 mph, pulling this stairway away from a back porch. CHRISTINE DE LESSIO/STAFF

``Our concern is we want to prevent that, and it could be done for less than $200,000 that has already been allocated,'' Mr. Raborn said. ``So the question becomes, do you do something now or wait until there are $14 million worth of lawsuits?''

The city's position so far has been that the lake is private property and the homeowners association is liable for damage to it or caused by it. However, city officials said they are trying to help the residents.

The problem, according to Mr. Raborn, is that clearing by developers upstream and the consolidated government's improvements to Rae's Creek above and below Willow Lake have created a bottleneck or hourglass effect for water flow in the Willow Creek area.

When Rae's Creek floods, water now rushes through the area with such speed and force it does greater damage than that caused by the catastrophic 1990 flood, Mr. Raborn said.

Last month's flood uprooted two large trees, he said, and in recent years the bank around the lake has eroded to three feet from 15 feet.

From the city's perspective, the problem is that Rae's Creek was diverted 90 degrees back in the 1970s so the lake could be constructed adjacent to the subdivision.

And City Attorney Jim Wall has given the opinion that the lake is owned by the homeowners association and that neither the former city of Augusta nor Richmond County -- before city-county government consolidation in 1996 -- approved locating the lake along Rae's Creek.

Click on graphic to view a larger image.STAFF

``The fact that the pond may flood during certain periods of heavy rain does not impose any liability on Augusta,'' Mr. Wall wrote May 18 in a letter to Mr. Raborn. ``Further, in the event that there is a rupture in the dam of the pond for any reason, the liability would be that of the homeowners association, and not Augusta-Richmond County.''

Mr. Raborn contends Mr. Wall's opinion is ``not acceptable to the residents of Willow Creek.

``There's a law on the books that says you can't do anything upstream that affects anything downstream,'' Mr. Raborn said.

But the real question, he said, is why the government stopped its improvements at Berckmans Road. At one time Willow Lake residents were told improvements in their area were the former city's responsibility and the city had no money.

``What happened to the $345,000 allocated by the city council's public works committee in 1993 to widen or deepen Rae's Creek from the Berckmans Road bridge on downstream through the Willow Creek subdivision?'' Mr. Raborn asked Mr. Wall in a June 5 letter.

``These are questions that the taxpayers of Willow Creek want immediate answers to.''

Mr. Raborn wants the city to take $200,000 allocated to try to solve the problem and build a levee from the bridge at Berckmans Road and along the lake to keep Rae's Creek flood waters out.

But city engineer Doug Cheek said it's not that simple. There could be unforeseen secondary effects from such a move, and environmental laws and regulations must be followed around state waters.

``They want the water from Rae's Creek to stop going in their pond,'' Mr. Cheek said. ``Unfortunately, it's not that easy to do. There are secondary effects.''

Mr. Cheek said he planned to walk Rae's Creek on Friday and is trying to help the homeowners.

Meanwhile, Public Works Director Jack Murphy said officials are taking action.

``We realize they've got a problem,'' Mr. Murphy said. ``We've contacted a consultant -- Cranston, Robertson and Whitehurst -- to go over the property to see what can be done to alleviate the problem, and we're meeting with them next week.

``Some of the things that are going to need to be done are not going to be readily acceptable to the people who live in Willow Creek.''

Sylvia Cooper covers Richmond County government for The Augusta Chronicle. She can be reached at (706) 823-3228 or newsroom@augustachronicle.com.