The Army Corps of Engineers is funding a flood control project in central Flagstaff that’s intended to absorb runoff from a fire five years ago.
The Museum Fire scorched nearly 2,000 acres in 2019 and took nearly a month to fully contain. The damage is still being felt; notably in neighborhoods downstream from monsoon rain runoff.
The Killip School Detention Basin Inlet Project is just one of 10 underway to repair watersheds in the region. The inlet project creates a channel for flood waters to move out of Flagstaff neighborhoods into a massive detention basin and save a nearby park.
"We’ll be creating a natural swale, a grass channel, that will help push that water into the basins while keeping the park functional," said Ed Shenk, Flagstaff’s Stormwater Section director.
The Army Corps of Engineers has agreed to pay for the project using $1.5 million from its environmental infrastructure budget.
