Residents, committee press water department on flood preparedness after public comments

Public commenters and councilmembers used the March 16 Public Health & Safety meeting to press the City’s water department on flood preparedness and prevention, citing recurring neighborhood flooding and gaps in departmental reporting.

William M. Davis, who identified himself as a 34-year water-department employee, told the committee he saw more floods in the last 13 years and urged the department to conduct emergency-preparedness exercises and contingency planning. "You might wanna find out, are they actually doing any emergency preparing this planning?" Davis asked, adding that staff at wastewater plants had received FEMA incident-commander training to respond to leaks and hazardous-chemical incidents.

The chair said the committee has a climate recovery task force that includes members and meets with emergency management and the water department to address flooding. Vice Chair Danzo McCampbell and other members emphasized preventive maintenance — clearing catch basins, removing leaves and debris, and evaluating the use of vacuum trucks — as ways to reduce neighborhood flooding.

The chair also flagged a concern about a mismatch between resident reports and some departmental responses: "We had a number of calls and emails regarding the health care facilities ordinance not being enforced properly by DPD. And in DPD's report, they mentioned no issues... so there is obviously a disconnect," the chair said, urging better data collection and departmental follow-up. The committee received and filed memo 5.1 and agreed to continue the conversation as departments are scheduled to appear.