Aug. 24 – WATERTOWN — Two weeks ago, Gregory S. Maneeley stood in 18 inches of water outside his Richards Drive home with a pair of boots on after 3.5 inches of rain fell in an hour after Storm Debby.
As so often before, the rain left standing water on the street, sidewalk and in his yard at his home at 1324 Richards Drive. This was due to the rainfall on August 9.
It was the second storm in a few weeks to cause similar devastation.
As of 12:55 p.m. that day, firefighters responded to 156 reports of water-related incidents in neighborhoods across the city, which continued into the next day.
Dozens of roads were closed. Vehicles were stuck in the water. Watertown High School sustained at least $4 million in water damage from the storm.
It wasn’t a typical rainstorm, so Watertown’s stormwater system couldn’t handle the amount of water in such a short time, Maneeley acknowledged.
“This is happening more and more often than once in a lifetime,” he said, adding that the city has had problems with stormwater management for years.
Maneeley went to the city council meeting Monday night to talk about what happened on August 9 and to reiterate to council members that even during the most normal rain showers, there is still water on his street.
One of his neighbors, Thomas King, a retired Fort Drum soldier who lives at 1333 Richards Drive, had water seeping under his garage door and into his basement that day.
Over the past 20 years, his basement has flooded several times, causing him to lose many of his belongings and having to replace two boilers.
City Engineer Tom Compo said he is working on stormwater management on Richards Drive and throughout the city.
He also spoke to Maneeley about his concerns.
When Compo attended his first meeting as the new city engineer last year, he heard Maneeley talking about the water problems in his street, so he decided to talk to him afterwards.
Compo believes his department can fix the problems on Richards Drive, but there’s not much that can be done when a once-in-500-year storm hits the north of the country.
“You can design for structures, but you can’t design for 3.5 hours of rain in an hour,” Compo said.
The city’s plans call for the construction of a new stormwater drain and the addition of two to four retention basins along Richards Drive.
The city will “cut the knot” and place the new storm line between three utility lines, Compo explained.
There are also some corrections that need to be made to the road. The street is turned the wrong way, causing rainwater to pool in the middle of the road. So the slope is being adjusted to prevent that, according to Public Works Superintendent Brian MacCue. The road will then be milled and repaved.
Although it is late in the construction season this year, MacCue aims to start the project early next spring, he said.
But Maneeley said he’s heard it all before. In the 36 years he’s lived on Richards Drive, he’s spoken to city officials countless times, received letters from officials promising to fix it, and collected newspaper clippings about the problems.
“I have no confidence in the city whatsoever,” Maneeley said.
However, council members said they know Richards Drive is on the city’s radar and that plans are in place to address it.
Knowing how long it had been going on and not knowing if a solution was available, Councilman Robert O. Kimball was careful not to make any promises after hearing the project was in the works.
“I’m glad to hear that something can be done,” he said.
Richards Drive wasn’t the only part of the city hit by the aftermath of Debby, which made landfall in Florida as a hurricane on August 5, before weakening and bringing rainfall to the northeastern US.
The southwest wedge of the city and the apartment buildings were also hit hard by Debby’s debris two weeks ago, MacCue said, as was the north side, along Mill, LeRay, Morrison, Alexandria and Bradley Streets.
According to MacCue, his crews have spent more than 500 hours troubleshooting storm-related issues and are still making minor repairs since the rains began.
Meanwhile, the city will soon have a complete picture of its rainwater drainage system.
In October 2022, a consultant, GHD Engineering, Syracuse, was hired to complete a citywide stormwater master plan. It will be used to make recommendations for addressing stormwater impacts associated with planned developments on the site, road reconstruction projects, and future infrastructure work throughout the city.
It is the first stormwater drainage study the city has completed since 1986.
GHD, which was paid for with $201,600 in funding from the American Rescue Plan Act, will file a report on its findings in about a month, Compo said.
The study focused on the following three river basins:
—The Western Outfall Trunk Sewer Drainage Basin. The city was fined by the state for intentionally discharging untreated sewage into Beaver Meadows, a large wetland west of the city limits;
—The Massey Street/Flower Avenue Drainage Basin;
—Beaver Meadows Drainage Basin.
As part of the analysis, some 25,000 hours of video footage were recorded in the rainwater pipe. Two engineers review the video footage to detect defects and leaks that need to be repaired, mainly in connections and along household laterals.
MacCue has drawn his own conclusions about what the advisers will find.
The clay drainage pipes are simply too old and too small, he said.
