More funding of $230,000 has been approved by the Cobb County Board of Commissioners for Phase 4 of the Sweetwater Creek Basin Flood Risk Management Study and Watershed Management Plan near Austell and Powder Springs.
The Sweetwater Creek basin has been subjected frequently to serious flooding - most dramatically in September 2009 when the area sustained many millions of dollars in damages.
After extensive requests and discussion with various agencies, Cobb commissioners and the U.S. Corps of Engineers approved an agreement to undertake a multi-year, multi-phase project to address the issue.
For the study portion, the Federal share is 50 percent of costs.
The cities of Austell (10 percent) and Powder Springs (6 percent) have agreed to participate in the local share with Cobb County (84 percent) in proportion to acreage within the basin.
The first three phases of the study were:
- Phase 1 – approved March 22, 2016; established schedule, scope and alternatives ($50,000 local share).
- Phase 2 – approved November 22, 2016; developed hydrologic baseline and provided initial development/screening of alternatives ($150,000 local share).
- Phase 3 – approved March 28, 2017; developed hydrologic model, cost, environmental analysis and benefit/cost analysis for each option ($300,000 local share).
Phase 4 will include public/stakeholder involvement, final costing and comparison of alternatives and implementation plan.
The proposed Phase 4 local share of $230,000 will bring the total local share for the study to $730,000 - a reduction of more than $400,000 from the initially anticipated cost.
This reduction results from the preliminary conclusion that structural solutions (dams, bypasses, etc.) are not cost-effective as compared with the development of natural corridors and other nonstructural options, according to a county statement.
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