One Eastport street serves as funnel for huge watershed
Residents of the Hawkes Avenue neighborhood of Eastport have been learning about watersheds and drainage in recent weeks. At the request of the city council, District Manager Nathan Pennell of Washington County Soil and Water Conservation District visited the island city...
Residents of the Hawkes Avenue neighborhood of Eastport have been learning about watersheds and drainage in recent weeks. At the request of the city council, District Manager Nathan Pennell of Washington County Soil and Water Conservation District visited the island city with Dave Rocque, state soil scientist, in early September to determine what has been causing flooding and soil erosion around the area of Hawkes Avenue and High Street.
The council was first made aware of the flooding and drainage problems in April, when Hawkes Avenue resident Wayne Wilcox informed the council of serious flood and erosion problems on his property. In August, next-door neighbor Vicki Robey came to the councillors and informed them that her property is showing signs of extreme duress from soil erosion caused by flooding behind her property.
The cause, Pennell says, is that a section of the island's watershed, going all the way to the high school and including Richardson Brook, is meeting the smooth, ditchless streets like Hawkes Avenue and running without much in the way of absorption or diversion. "It's a huge watershed," he explains. In addition to a number of other issues, an old culvert was at some point replaced with one half its original size and could no longer handle the sudden and new influx of water. "We can slow down the water and make some adjustments such as a properly installed culvert," he says.
City Council President Mary Repole says that she and residents learned a lot when Pennell and Rocque visited. For instance, she learned that when the new water mains were installed, "It wasn't that anything was done wrong. The laying of pipe, gravel and rock was done correctly. But it gave the water the perfect place to shoot down the road and created a path that the rest of the drainage couldn't handle."
Drainage issues and some flooding have plagued the Hawkes and High area for years, but it was just once or twice a year. Homeowners had sump pumps and dealt with it. However, Robey notes that problems started about two years ago, after the new mains were installed, supporting Pennell and Rocque's assessment.
In a report of remedial steps that Pennell has submitted to the council, he lists a range of actions from the short term to the long term. They include putting in some new drainage pipe of a specific size and location, and monitoring certain wetland areas and keeping it clear of obstructions. In addition, streets in the watershed need to have ditches so that water quickly leaves the road surface. He advises that the city should build retention ponds on tributaries to Richardson Brook "to slow water from rushing to the properties that are currently being flooded or impacted."
A little bit of technology can be used by the city. Pennell says in his report, "Use cameras to inspect culverts and drainage lines to detect blockages needing flushing and or removal." In addition, he advises, "Install a rock‑lined waterway from the tide water to the first street to receive the water from Richardson Brook and all other drainage in this watershed. The size and layout needs to be engineered and this waterway needs to be properly installed. Install a large culvert to carry the water to the waterway described above. This needs to be engineered to carry all of the water and installed properly."
Grants will need to be found to pay for much of the heavier work. Repole says that the short‑term steps can be taken care of by the city's Public Works Department. "We'll start the easy things first and make a difference, then start the long‑range." The city will work with Washington County Council of Governments' Judy East and the Soil and Water Conservation District to find grant funding to tackle the larger projects.
Pennell says in his report, "The impacts on properties in the lower part of the watershed are very significant." Robey agrees and wonders how she is supposed to live in her house and wait until grants are found and the bigger project accomplished. With the house leaning four to five inches and her foundation beginning to buckle in places, she does not feel that she can continue to live in it. Her diagnosis of multiple sclerosis over 14 years ago was the reason that she retired from her job and moved to Eastport. She thought she was gaining the peaceful retirement that everyone hopes for but that with her disability is critical for her health. "I just want to not have this stress."
At the moment the only way she sees removing the stress from her life is to move, possibly abandoning the house. She doesn't see how she could sell her house, knowing of the problems. The city, she states, needs to address the issue of her damaged house as an individual problem within the larger watershed work. The soil under and surrounding her house is so saturated, she says, that she doesn't see how to solve the problem other than the possibility of placing it on pylons.