With today's and tonight's heavy rain and ponding of water in the streets I am mindful that my typical Louisville Water bill is about 2/3 for drainage and for sewer and about 1/3 for actual water service. The Bon Air Neighborhood has a number of flood plains and prone areas including my backyard.
There are a number of flood plains. The following are portions of a map from https://apps.lojic.org/lojiconline/ of the Bon Air Neighborhood with flood plain layers imposed as a very pale blue.
The first significant area is along the south fork of Beargrass Creek. It includes Dell Brooke, Masemure, Terrier Lane, Wyckford Lane, Medford Lane, Liverpool Lane, Gerald Court and the JCPS property that is Goldsmith Elementary and Seneca High School.
The second area is up north of Goldsmith Lane around a stream that goes into some kind of drain pipe. The area includes Shannon Drive, Bon Air Avenue, Wellingmoor Avenue, Drake Avenue, Stratford Avenue, Fureen Drive
The third area is the following that includes Radiance Rd, Talisman Rd, Kelly Way, Boaires Ln, Windward Way, Stanton Blvd, Noe Way, and Noe Ct.
The most significant flood prone area is Medford Lane on the bank of the south fork of Beargrass Creek. It is part of the flood plain along the south fork of Beargrass Creek . It has had several houses that have flooded multiple times. I am aware that some houses near on Liverpool have also flooded in the past.
A number of other streets turn into lakes in the neighborhood during heavy rains.
1) Del Rio place in front of the Bon Air Library can become a lake.
2) Doreen Way and Commander Drive at the north side along the Watterson often also become lakes during heavy rains. There is a 1957-dated box culvert that drains off the Watterson into an intermittent stream between Doreen and Wedgewood Rd, but backs up into Doreen and Commander and eventually drains within a reasonable amount of time leaving those homes relatively unaffected.
3) Rio Rita at Goldsmith can become a lake at times. It is hard to say if it is back up from storm drainage into the south fork or if it is something else.
It is hard to say how long flooding has been an issue in some areas. I imagine that when the houses along Medford were built around 1959 and 1960 the flooding was not a concern other than the fact that they are slab foundations and not basement homes. The question begs: when did the homes start to flood? Did it start with the widening of the Watterson in 1992-1994? I would be willing to entertain opinions.
In my last incarnation of this blog, I studied the storm drainage in the neighborhood. There are different qualities of drainage in the different sections. In my opinion, the best drainage system appears to be in what is the Bon Air Estates section followed by the Highgate Springs section. The poorest quality storm sewer system appears to be on Commander and Doreen (Those are VA Homes that were meant to be "affordable" in the first place and it seems the developer did it on the cheap). My conclusion continues to be that the drainage was up to the different developers and they appeared to set up systems commensurate with the quality of the housing stock, but luckily Commander and Doreen are of a slightly higher elevation that they drain quickly into one of the tributaries that eventually run to the south fork.
The Metropolitan Sewer District has bought several of the houses on Medford Lane that had repeatedly flooded and has razed them. Otherwise, it has been focused on sanitary sewers and not storm drainage. In fairness it is safe to say that the focus of MSD has been demanded by the EPA to be on upgrading the sanitary sewers, and yes we are paying for it as evidenced by 2/3's of the bill going to drainage and sewer while about 1/3 is actual water supply.
A few years back, MSD went through and buried a (I believe a 7-foot diameter) concrete sanitary sewer line through Bon Air on Dell Brooke, going along/under the south fork between Goldsmith Lane and Downing Way to include buying the house at 3600 Downing Way and razing it. They got rid of a sanitary sewage pumping station in the process. It did nothing for the flooding.
However, MSD has some form of proposal to address the flooding. MSD created the Watershed Master Plan in 2017 which is located at:
http://www.msdlouky.org/programs/crssite/wmp/2017%20Watershed%20Master%20Plan.pdf
It clarifies that the Bon Air Neighborhood is in the South Fork Beargrass Creek Watershed. It includes an analysis of this watershed in section SF.
On page SF-5 it says "The Critical Repair and Reinvestment Plan proposes nine new projects in the South Fork watershed." For the purposes of the Bon Air Neighborhood, the relevant projects appear to be at the Downing Way basin, the Fountain Square basin, and the Gerald Court basin. These are supposed to be provided for in a five year capital improvement plan budget. A good question to ask MSD is whether or not things are going according to this capital improvement plan?
Flooding is one of those political matters where the squeaky wheel gets the grease. MSD will most likely be represented at Brent Ackerson's Town Hall on May 11 at St Barnabas. If flooding is an issue for you, I would suggest going to the rep and ask your questions.
Otherwise, you can also come to the Bon Air Neighborhood Association's Quarterly meeting on May 13, 2019 at 6:30 pm at the Creekside 3535 Bardstown Rd. At this time we have plans to have Brent Ackerson or one of his assistants speak, and a representative from LMPD. We also will aim to have a representative from MSD.
Flood Plains
There are a number of flood plains. The following are portions of a map from https://apps.lojic.org/lojiconline/ of the Bon Air Neighborhood with flood plain layers imposed as a very pale blue.
The first significant area is along the south fork of Beargrass Creek. It includes Dell Brooke, Masemure, Terrier Lane, Wyckford Lane, Medford Lane, Liverpool Lane, Gerald Court and the JCPS property that is Goldsmith Elementary and Seneca High School.
The second area is up north of Goldsmith Lane around a stream that goes into some kind of drain pipe. The area includes Shannon Drive, Bon Air Avenue, Wellingmoor Avenue, Drake Avenue, Stratford Avenue, Fureen Drive
The third area is the following that includes Radiance Rd, Talisman Rd, Kelly Way, Boaires Ln, Windward Way, Stanton Blvd, Noe Way, and Noe Ct.
Flood Prone Areas
The most significant flood prone area is Medford Lane on the bank of the south fork of Beargrass Creek. It is part of the flood plain along the south fork of Beargrass Creek . It has had several houses that have flooded multiple times. I am aware that some houses near on Liverpool have also flooded in the past.
A number of other streets turn into lakes in the neighborhood during heavy rains.
1) Del Rio place in front of the Bon Air Library can become a lake.
2) Doreen Way and Commander Drive at the north side along the Watterson often also become lakes during heavy rains. There is a 1957-dated box culvert that drains off the Watterson into an intermittent stream between Doreen and Wedgewood Rd, but backs up into Doreen and Commander and eventually drains within a reasonable amount of time leaving those homes relatively unaffected.
3) Rio Rita at Goldsmith can become a lake at times. It is hard to say if it is back up from storm drainage into the south fork or if it is something else.
It is hard to say how long flooding has been an issue in some areas. I imagine that when the houses along Medford were built around 1959 and 1960 the flooding was not a concern other than the fact that they are slab foundations and not basement homes. The question begs: when did the homes start to flood? Did it start with the widening of the Watterson in 1992-1994? I would be willing to entertain opinions.
Not all Storm Drainage is Equal in the Neighborhood
In my last incarnation of this blog, I studied the storm drainage in the neighborhood. There are different qualities of drainage in the different sections. In my opinion, the best drainage system appears to be in what is the Bon Air Estates section followed by the Highgate Springs section. The poorest quality storm sewer system appears to be on Commander and Doreen (Those are VA Homes that were meant to be "affordable" in the first place and it seems the developer did it on the cheap). My conclusion continues to be that the drainage was up to the different developers and they appeared to set up systems commensurate with the quality of the housing stock, but luckily Commander and Doreen are of a slightly higher elevation that they drain quickly into one of the tributaries that eventually run to the south fork.
Is MSD doing anything?
The Metropolitan Sewer District has bought several of the houses on Medford Lane that had repeatedly flooded and has razed them. Otherwise, it has been focused on sanitary sewers and not storm drainage. In fairness it is safe to say that the focus of MSD has been demanded by the EPA to be on upgrading the sanitary sewers, and yes we are paying for it as evidenced by 2/3's of the bill going to drainage and sewer while about 1/3 is actual water supply.
A few years back, MSD went through and buried a (I believe a 7-foot diameter) concrete sanitary sewer line through Bon Air on Dell Brooke, going along/under the south fork between Goldsmith Lane and Downing Way to include buying the house at 3600 Downing Way and razing it. They got rid of a sanitary sewage pumping station in the process. It did nothing for the flooding.
However, MSD has some form of proposal to address the flooding. MSD created the Watershed Master Plan in 2017 which is located at:
http://www.msdlouky.org/programs/crssite/wmp/2017%20Watershed%20Master%20Plan.pdf
It clarifies that the Bon Air Neighborhood is in the South Fork Beargrass Creek Watershed. It includes an analysis of this watershed in section SF.
On page SF-5 it says "The Critical Repair and Reinvestment Plan proposes nine new projects in the South Fork watershed." For the purposes of the Bon Air Neighborhood, the relevant projects appear to be at the Downing Way basin, the Fountain Square basin, and the Gerald Court basin. These are supposed to be provided for in a five year capital improvement plan budget. A good question to ask MSD is whether or not things are going according to this capital improvement plan?
Concluding Thoughts
Flooding is one of those political matters where the squeaky wheel gets the grease. MSD will most likely be represented at Brent Ackerson's Town Hall on May 11 at St Barnabas. If flooding is an issue for you, I would suggest going to the rep and ask your questions.
Otherwise, you can also come to the Bon Air Neighborhood Association's Quarterly meeting on May 13, 2019 at 6:30 pm at the Creekside 3535 Bardstown Rd. At this time we have plans to have Brent Ackerson or one of his assistants speak, and a representative from LMPD. We also will aim to have a representative from MSD.
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