The community has 30 days to give feedback on the first three final draft reports of watershed study models, which are posted online and propose potential solutions to flooding issues.
The first three draft reports focus on watershed studies on the City’s west side: Spring Harbor, Stricker’s/Mendota and Wingra West.
A watershed is a land area that drains rainfall runoff (or stormwater) to a single outlet, or “discharge point.” The discharge point can be a lake, river, ditch, or storm sewer outfall. The City of Madison is divided into 22 major watersheds. Of the 22 watersheds, 17 have a watershed study underway. The three final draft reports are the first of all watersheds to be released.
Give Feedback
The public should review the draft final report posted on each of the watershed study webpages, then email the specific project manager for the watershed study listed on its webpage. If possible, the following information should be included in the email.
- Include name of study in email subject line
- Reference page number of report (if applicable)
- Provide suggested comment
- Other information you want to share (if applicable)
Spring Harbor Project Manager: Jojo O’Brien, jobrien@cityofmadison.com
Strickers/Mendota Project Manager: Lauren Striegl, lstriegl@cityofmadison.com
Wingra West Project Manager: Phil Gaebler, pgaebler@cityofmadison.com
Project Managers will compile comments and respond, which will be included as an Appendix in the Final Watershed Study Report for each watershed. Identifying information will be redacted prior to publication.
Background
The City of Madison Engineering Division put the drafts together after they launched the Watershed Studies in 2018 after historic flooding in the City. For each study, stormwater design engineers created a computer model to explore existing flooding patterns within the watershed, identify potential flood mitigating engineering solutions, and to evaluate the impacts of those solutions on flooding under different storm scenarios. The watershed studies included an aggressive public outreach effort, surveys, multiple public meetings, presentations, on-site visits, focus groups, and continued engagement. Each draft includes a public engagement summary and collected feedback.
Extra Resources
City’s Watershed Website
Spring Harbor Watershed Webpage
Strickers Mendota Watershed Webpage
Wingra West Watershed Webpage
Podcast episode: What’s Going on With the Watershed
