Floodplain Mitigation Projects

Clear Creek

Several mitigation projects identified in the 2008 Master Plan would remove almost 100 properties from the mapped floodplain. However, those projects cost several million dollars, and funding to implement those projects has not yet been identified.

Lena Gulch

In previous decades, the City, along with its partner, the Mile High Flood Control District, has done several mitigation projects along Lena Gulch. Most of these mitigation projects increased the capacity of the area immediately adjacent to Lena Gulch in an attempt to contain the flows from 100-year and smaller storms in the vicinity of Lena Gulch.

A new mitigation project that was identified in the 2008 Master Plan has recently been funded using federal COVID funding. The mitigation project is located between Simms and Swadley Streets, north of 32^nd Avenue. The mitigation consists of increasing the capacity of the overbanks on either side of the main channel by lowering the ground to just above the level of the normal flows. Larger flows from storms would be contained within the overbank, keeping the flows from flooding nearby properties.

The 2008 Master Plan identified two properties that needed to be acquired in order to construct the mitigation project. Soon after the Master Plan was completed, both properties were listed for sale and were purchased by the City with assistance from the Mile High Flood District. The existing houses and other improvements were removed, allowing for future construction of the mitigation project. The design, permitting, and construction of the mitigation project will take several years to complete but will hopefully result in 13 properties being removed from the mapped floodplain.

Hazard Mitigation Plan