flood mitigation

The Forest Service is reviewing several Coconino County proposals designed to reduce post-fire flood impact in the Flagstaff area.

The proposals seek to minimize private land damage and protect watershed resources and will target areas within or directly adjacent to the 2022 Tunnel and Pipeline burn scars.

Some of these areas, adjacent to both private land and City of Flagstaff land, were previously analyzed and approved for post-fire flood structures after the 2010 Schultz Fire.

The Coconino County Flood Control District would like to re-emphasize the urgency of proper and timely flood mitigation in the Doney Park neighborhood, and would like to invite residents to a community meeting Thursday, July 14 2022, at 6:30 p.m. in the Cromer Elementary School Gym.

At this meeting, flood mitigation efforts will be discussed that will be of great benefit to individual property owners. Recommended Mitigation Exhibits will be on display and residents will have the opportunity to ask questions of District staff and their Engineering Consultants.

Forest Service Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) specialists recently completed their field data evaluation to produce the Soil Burn Severity (SBS) map for the Pipeline Fire, which delineate unburned, low, moderate, and high SBS categories.

A Forest Service Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) team has started surveying the fire-affected areas located within the Pipeline Fire perimeter.

BAER team assessments are rapid evaluations of post-fire conditions of the burned landscape. These assessments determine the level of risk from potential flooding and debris flow, and calculate how these risks will affect both human safety and the natural and cultural resources in the area.

The  Coconino County Flood Control District (District) has set up several sandbag stations in the Pipeline Fire Area for residents to install around their homes in preparation of post-wildfire flooding.

Sandbags and sandbag materials are currently available at the Copeland Detention Basin, the entrance of which is located just off of Hwy 89 at Copeland Lane.

The Copeland Detention Basin has both a self-serve sandbag station and pre-made sandbags. The self-serve station includes empty sandbags and fill material.

 As Coconino County residents begin to return to their homes in the aftermath of the Pipeline and Haywire fires, the County’s Flood Control District would like to make the entire community aware of the potential risk of flooding, and the steps the public can take to mitigate their property and be Flood Aware.

Residents may already be familiar with the 3 Step “Ready, Set, Go” wildfire system of preparedness and evacuation. For the risk of flooding, a similar, easy-to-remember system of “Ready, Set, Shelter” is helpful to prepare for and respond to flood events: