Next Storm Water Master Plan Meeting June 30

Paducah residents are invited to attend Public Meeting No. 3 to review the latest information regarding the development of a Comprehensive Storm Water Master Plan for the City of Paducah.  

The meeting will be Monday, July 30 from 5 until 7 pm at the Paducah Middle School Cafeteria at 342 Lone Oak Road. To access the cafeteria, please park in the lot at the back of the school and use the rear entry.  

At 5:30 pm, the City’s consultant team for this planning initiative will make a presentation about the plan's progress, selection of the priority project areas (see photo), and development of the flood mitigation alternatives. 

In addition to the presentation, there will be stations that provide information about each of the selected priority areas including flood mitigation alternatives currently under review. Project team members will be available to answer questions.

Over the past several months, the City’s consultant team has worked to create an existing conditions baseline model of Paducah’s natural and manmade infrastructure including storm and combined sewer systems, topography, drainage basins, and natural stream systems. To replicate how rainfall affects this area, the baseline model was calibrated using the flood information and accounts from residents regarding the record July 7, 2015 storm event. This computer model, in addition to feedback collected from previous public meetings, an online survey, and historic citizen complaint data, was used to determine the flood-prone areas in Paducah and to evaluate approaches and alternatives to mitigate the flooding that are currently under review.

The consultant team also has worked with a citizen advisory group, the Storm Water Advisory Committee (SWAC), to solicit feedback on the priority areas, mitigation options, and level of service to be used for sizing alternatives. General cost and design differences for levels of service ranging from 10-year, 25-year, and 100-year storm events were also shared with the SWAC to help inform decision making that led to the selection of a 25-year storm event as the basis of design. Using a 25-year storm event as the design basis, the cost to complete the flood mitigation projects in the ten priority areas is estimated to be in the $32 to $36 million range. These projects could potentially eliminate 180 primary structures (such as homes and businesses) from flooding and greatly reduce the flooding risk for another 300 primary structures within the Paducah city limits.

This is the third public meeting for the Master Plan process, with previous meetings were held in June and November of 2017. Residents have had opportunities to share storm water flooding-related experiences and firsthand flooding accounts, photos, and concerns in addition to ideas to help solve community-wide storm water issues.  

In March 2017, the City of Paducah contracted with Strand Associates, Inc. who is being assisted by Paducah-based Bacon Farmer Workman Engineering & Testing, Inc. to complete the Comprehensive Storm Water Master Plan for Paducah. The master plan development is on schedule with the first phase wrapping up and the second phase initiated. The second phase of the Master Plan includes evaluating funding mechanisms to allow the implementation of drainage improvement projects in addition to water quality protection, operations and maintenance, and rehabilitation of aging storm sewer infrastructure.

If you have questions, contact City of Paducah Stormwater & Drainage Engineer Eric Hickman at stormwateranddrainage@paducahky.gov.