SECURITY-WIDEFIELD — With more rain in the forecast, Security-Widefield residents are concerned about flash-flooding.
Tony McDonald has lived along Security Boulevard for over 60 years.
"When it is flooding, it comes up my driveway. This side doesn't get as much as that side because they have no barrier. They put a small barrier over there near the bank which helps slow it down, but it'll come up," said McDonald.
Throughout the years, McDonald says the flooding has just gotten worst. When it rains, the drains will get clogged which prevents water from getting through.
"The water is supposed to go into all of those gutters down there, but they don't. Those things are so overgrown and so bad. On Security Boulevard and Main St., they are gross because they just don't keep them cleaned out. They are full of weeds, and trash, and it gets onto your yard," said McDonald.
She has even had to come up with ways to help stop the water from sweeping away her rocks and pushing debris onto her property.
"I've got a small wall put up to stop that water from coming this way. I blocked the bottom because I have tiny rocks. It helps, it really does help. The water goes around it," said McDonald. "Sometimes I lost the rocks, sometimes I don't."
"El Paso County is always concerned about any flooding that occurs throughout the county, particularly during the summer thunderstorm season. The county attempts to respond as quickly as possible to make sure we are mitigating any of the issues that are in the county to support our residents and businesses," said Longinos Gonzales Jr, El Paso County Board of Commissioners.
The county is aware of the upstream drainage issues that are impacting stormwater flows in the Security-Widefield area.
"One of the things that we are able to do this upcoming year with ARPA funds is allocate $15 million to stormwater projects. This includes this area with a stormwater ditch as well as studies for upstream drainage studies so we can look to see what future projects to help not only here but throughout the entire county," said Gonzales Jr. "We need to make sure to get the drainage studies done properly so that we can get the appropriate response and fixes for these flooding areas."
"In the Security-Widefield area, we have identified what we believe to be the causal effect of the issues that we're having at Security and Main and Security and Fontane and along Security Boulevard in particular. We have a couple of extended detention basins that are upstream of that roadway. Those extended detention basins flow into a channel, and that channel has been overwhelmed. We experienced that this week with the storm, and DIX Circle is an example of that where we saw that channel get overwhelmed with water. That water started flowing out and across the roadways," said Jack Ladley, Deputy Director of Public Works.
He says one of the biggest issues is debris clogging the drainage structures.
"We've identified that the trash rack, that is the rack that sits in that channel designed to keep large objects from blocking that channel, had some issues with it that allowed some debris to get caught up in it. It caused that back up, and that overflow, and we addressed that this week. We've also repaired some of the damage that the flooding has caused," said Ladley.
He says they need to really focus efforts on upstream effects, and better control of the flow of water coming into the Security Boulevard area. Until they are able to do that, flash flooding will continue.
"The thing that we would ask residents, and I am not saying it is all on them. Where they could help us is clean up leaves, trash, and debris. Get them out of the curb and gutter so when we have these events, those things don't block those structures and create problems for others," said Ladley.
The county encourages residents to tell them about any flooding on roadways or neighborhoods. They can submit an online customer service request through the Citizen Connect portal here.
