City asks residents to weigh in on stormwater

Remember the 500-year flash floods that ripped across the Northland 10 years ago, and the drought that had farmers and others praying for rain last summer?

Cloquet city officials are hoping to make a plan for future climate change and they need help from the people who live here.

City staff and the SEH consulting engineering firm are in the process of preparing an assessment of the stormwater infrastructure throughout Cloquet, something that was last done 40 years ago, according to assistant city engineer John Anderson.

As part of the assessment, they want insight from residents. In particular, how is Cloquet affected by the weather today? Does your street flood everytime it rains?

The work of assessing and creating a future plan is being paid for by a $106,000 planning grant from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, which includes paying a consulting engineer to do the stormwater modeling.

“It doesn’t have anything to do with building anything, it’s investigating what we have and how that fits the needs that we have now and going forward,” Anderson said. “Take the pipes that carry stormwater, for example. Are they big enough for the rainfall that we get? And if they don’t do their job, what’s the impact? Does it pond up into flood areas until it can get conveyed through the system?”

Since the original plan was created 40 years ago, engineering standards have changed and rainfall amounts have increased.

“It’s anticipated that [rainfall amounts] are only going to go up,” Anderson said. “What does that mean to what we have in the ground that was built 30 years ago?”

Two interns spent the summer measuring and collecting data on the existing stormwater pipes; now it’s time for residents to weigh in online or in person.

Online, residents can go to wikimapping.com/Community-Survey.html and see comments already on the map, agree or disagree with them, and/or add their own observations. For example, there are two raindrop symbols at the intersection of Cloquet Avenue and 22nd Street. One points out that the turn lane from 22nd to Cloquet Avenue floods everytime it rains. The other notes that the intersection floods after rainfall, observed on Aug. 17.

Online users can agree or disagree, and add comments, which can include descriptions of flooding issues as well as flooding solutions and ideas. Users can also create new points or areas, and answer questions about their entry.

Those who can’t or don’t want to learn how to maneuver around the online map are invited to stop by or call the city engineering department to give their input.

“Whatever people are comfortable with is good with us,” Anderson said.

While they don’t have a hard end date for the survey, Anderson said they are hoping people will complete it by early October, so city officials can see the area in question before it gets covered up with snow.

Want to know more? Stop by City Hall or call the city at 218-879-3347 and ask for assistant city engineer John Anderson or go online to wikimapping.com/Community-Survey.html.