Crescent City adopts storm drain master plan to prioritize 25+ flood‑mitigation projects

Crescent City adopted a storm drain master plan prepared by GHD that inventories the municipal drainage system, models performance across 10 drainage areas, and recommends a prioritized capital improvement program to mitigate flooding and prepare for more intense storms.

GHD engineer Patrick Sullivan told the council the plan combines field reconnaissance, as‑built data, digital elevation models and hydrologic‑hydraulic modeling to identify system deficiencies, simulate rainfall and tidal interactions at outfalls, and quantify flooding volumes for design storms.

Sullivan said the model—which was also used to analyze the October storm event—identified more than 25 candidate projects. He highlighted a proposal to add or enlarge an outfall near the Play Street/Cultural Center area that would reduce flows into multiple downtown drainage basins and have stronger system‑wide benefits than some other single projects.

"The plan provides a map and a prioritization for how to execute these projects so they don't simply move flooding from one basin to another," Sullivan said, describing the phasing and sequencing approach.

Why it matters: Crescent City faces infrastructure and sea‑level constraints at several outfalls; the plan is intended to support grant applications and help the city sequence projects so limited funding maximizes benefits. Staff described the plan as CDBG‑funded and said it will be used to pursue additional funding and coordinate permitting.

Action taken: council approved Resolution 2026‑51 adopting the storm drain master plan and the GHD technical memorandum documenting the Oct. 13–15 storm analysis; the vote was unanimous.

Next steps: staff will use the prioritized list to seek state, federal and coastal grants and to coordinate project permitting with coastal agencies and park/street improvements.