Public Works

Parks Help With Flood Control

Several parks within the City are designed with the first priority of being flood control facilities. Having them be multi-use facilities allows for several uses of the same property and also helps to keep flood control facilities as an attractive part of the community. Examples of public parks that are also flood control facilities include Sullivan Park, Highlands Park and Treasure Valley Park. Stucki Farms Park would be a prime example of a private park that functions as a flood control facility. The idea behind using parks as detention basins is that they are able to serve there flood control purpose at the precise time they are least likely to be being enjoyed as a Park. Time spent in a Park rarely occurs during our extreme rain events when the area becomes inundated with water. Another interesting fact is that it allows the grass and vegetation to make use of some of the water rather than flowing downstream. In theory this should decrease demand on the water system as well. The vegetation associated with the Park use also helps clean up the stormwater helping us to better comply with federal/state regulation.

Lester C. Dalton

Project Manager

Public Works

ldalton@washingtoncity.org