Photo by Sarah Finnegan.
Rain water rushes down toward the sewer in downtown Homewood. With an aging storm water system and an increase in large home construction resulting in smaller yards, the city of Homewood has been experiencing flash flooding.
Every time it rains, all that water has to go somewhere.
Depending on where it lands, that rainwater might get absorbed by grass and tree roots, or it might flow across driveways and roads until it collects in stormwater sewers to flow into the nearest creek. But if the sewers can’t handle heavy water flow, or too much rainwater is running in the same direction, it can lead to a flood of problems — literally.
Lancaster Road residents David and Jane Chaplin know every time there’s a heavy storm, there’s a chance their yard and their neighbors’ yards will look more like a pond. It has happened three times so far in 2018, as well as instances in 2016 and 2017.
“When it rains, Huntington is 18 inches underwater,” David Chaplin said.
The Chaplins were among homeowners who complained to the city about persistent stormwater flooding issues, and in August the city commissioned Walter Schoel Engineering to take on a study of water flow in the area of Lancaster and Huntington roads, as well as the area around Bonita Drive.
However, Greg Cobb, of Homewood’s Building, Engineering and Zoning Department, said there can be multiple potential causes of stormwater flooding and solutions aren’t always simple.
Getting rid of a flooding issue means moving some of that water to a new location, but Cobb said sometimes that simply means the flood is in front of a different doorstep.
“You can’t fix all the drainage,” he said. “Not all problems like that can be solved.”
One factor in stormwater flooding that Cobb mentioned is the increase in impervious surfaces, such as roads, parking lots, driveways and houses, that can’t absorb water and thus force it to keep moving until it can be absorbed by soil or collected in a sewer.
Photo by Sarah Finnegan.
The Chaplins have installed a new gate on the Huntington side of their yard, waterproofed their basement and added a drainage system, with porous stones and collection pipes, to their backyard to help mitigate flooding during storms.
“What’s happening is we’re building bigger houses and subdividing lots, and there’s more impervious surfaces,” he said.
“You tend to see a lot more stormwater in areas that have a lot more impervious surfaces,” said Scott Hofer, who works in the Jefferson County Department of Public Health’s Watershed Protection program.
The Chaplins said there has been plenty of new construction and development in the area around their home, adding more homes or making existing ones larger.
“The drainage on Huntington is totally inadequate for all the construction,” Jane Chaplin said. “If we have any more land that’s covered with concrete, it’s just going to get worse.”
Mecca Avenue has a similar problem with a handful of new homes under construction, which caused the City Council’s public works committee to consider a second stormwater study in October (see page A9).
Hofer noted the water that goes into the storm drains eventually makes its way into local streams, but it can’t be treated or cleaned before it reaches those waterways.
The size of storm sewers can also make a difference, Hofer said. If significant property development occurs after a sewer is installed, the increased runoff from those impervious surfaces may bring more water flow during heavy rains than the sewers can easily collect.
“You hope that you size your pipes enough for the area that it’s working for,” Hofer said, noting that this can be a common problem around Jefferson County.
Cobb said the age of Homewood’s storm sewers is not exact, but most were installed at the same time as a road was laid and its first house was built.
Homewood can experience storm flooding in part, Cobb said, because of the amount of water flowing into the city. In addition to major highways, any rain that lands on the south side of Red Mountain or the north side of Shades Mountain is likely to make its way into Homewood.
“We’ve got this all the way through the city,” Cobb said.
In the Chaplins’ case, Cobb said water from U.S. 31, Oxmoor Road and many of the businesses and residences nearby is all flowing down Huntington Road before reaching a storm drain — and turning the Chaplins’ backyard into a pool.
Photo by Sarah Finnegan.
Rain water rushes down toward the sewer in downtown Homewood.
Walter Schoel senior project manager William Thomas said the study of the Huntington Road and Bonita Drive areas included hydrologic models and evaluations of the existing drainage system and water flow, as well as points where water flow is restricted or creates a bottleneck.
As of the Homewood Star’s press time, Walter Schoel had not set a date to present its findings and suggestions to the Homewood City Council.
Thomas said stormwater flooding may not entirely disappear, but it is possible to alleviate the frequency and severity of the problem. He gave the same caution as Cobb: that any solution must not cause a new flooding problem in another area.
“We can’t increase the flooding on somebody else to do this,” Thomas said.
The Chaplins are hoping the city will take action on several fronts to reduce the flooding, including greater stormwater sewer capacity and rules for new developments. Jane Chaplin supported the change to Neighborhood Preservation District zoning rules that was recently approved by the Homewood Planning Commission, which would limit properties to 50 percent total land coverage — including homes, driveways and other impervious surfaces — or 55 percent if homeowners use some permeable surfaces.
The current NPD zoning has the 50 percent limit, but it only applies to the home on the property. The City Council will set a public hearing on this and other zoning changes in October.
“There needs to be big zoning controls,” Jane Chaplin said. “Every bit of big development adds a little bit less space.”
She also said she would like to see the stormwater sewers replaced.
“That’s a huge expense, but this [problem] is probably not going to go away,” she said.
There are things homeowners can do to make the impact of sudden rainstorms less severe if their property is flood-prone. The Chaplins, who are avid gardeners, have installed a new gate on the Huntington side of their yard, waterproofed their basement and added a drainage system to their backyard.
Hofer said trees are critical and can prevent as much as half of rainwater that falls on the tree from ever reaching the ground. He also recommended rain barrels to collect runoff from roofs or rain gardens, which are dips or holes in the ground that are covered with plants to collect rainwater and let it absorb slowly into the soil.
Replacing solid surfaces like concrete and asphalt with permeable surfaces can also reduce runoff. Gravel or loose stones are one such surface, and some companies make permeable paving stones or bricks that allow water to filter through rather than flow away.
For new homes or businesses, Hofer encouraged looking for low-impact options that leave as much plant life and soil intact as possible.
“Trying to keep things as natural as you can” can make the difference between a trickle and a flood, Hofer said.
