City Tightens Rules In Effort To Control Flooding In/Around: Moran Prairie

The Spokane City Council on Monday adopted new restrictions on developers in southeast Spokane in an attempt to slow the rise of flood waters there.

The council’s action comes six months after Spokane County commissioners adopted similar measures.

Developers no longer will be able to use grassy depressions to let storm runoff soak back into the ground. Only lined evaporation ponds will be allowed.

Also, basements are prohibited unless they are designed to prevent water from seeping into them.

The temporary restrictions were imposed by both the city and county to prevent a worsening of the flooding that has plagued low-lying areas of Moran Prairie.

“It is very important we have joint planning with the county,” said Mayor Jack Geraghty.

The restrictions are intended to prevent a worsening of floods while a long-term solution is sought.

The city and county are jointly involved in a watershed study to come up with recommendations for solving the problem.

A preliminary report calls for a system of storm pipes and natural drainage ways at a cost of $20 million or more. A Boise consultant is suggesting the preservation of natural corridors that historically drained excess stormwater.

Those corridors could be used to slow and retain some of the runoff, while storm pipes would move water away from developed areas to collection ponds near Eighth and Carnahan.

A large part of the cost of building the system likely could fall onto property owners of the area.

Residents of Moran Prairie testified Monday about the flooding they’ve suffered.

Jennifer Swanson-Danzig said her basement was soaked five times, but she considers herself fortunate compared with her neighbors.

Water stood a few inches on her basement floor each time, but her neighbors had several feet of water in theirs.

She said government has a responsibility to protect its citizens from property damage.

“New construction in our area will only compound the inexcusable mess we live in now,” Swanson-Danzig said.

The Moran Prairie Neighborhood Association has been calling for a building moratorium until the flooding problem is addressed.

Susan Brudnicki, president of the Moran Prairie Neighborhood Association, said the flooding problem is aggravated by shallow soils with little capacity to absorb storm runoff. The urbanization of Moran Prairie has increased runoff, which flows into low-lying areas incapable of absorbing it, she said.

Geraghty said good land-use planning on Moran Prairie is complicated by the fact that parts of the prairie lie in the city while the rest is in the county.

The system doesn’t respond well to issues like flood prevention, he said.

The new temporary rules will not affect projects with completed applications before the city.

The rules will remain in effect for six months to a year.

, DataTimes