Floods prepare city for coming extreme weather
Damage from last month’s flooding of Santa Fe continues to be sorted out — destruction of buildings, landscaping, automobiles, damage to personal goods and public spaces. While residents of Santa Fe assess and clean up water damage, city of Santa Fe officials are looking to the future, attempting to figure out what can and should be done to lessen destruction from future severe rains.
Even though the storm was billed as a “1,000-year event” — demonstrating how unusual it is for almost 4 inches of rain to fall so quickly here — we all know that extreme weather is becoming less unusual. The odds for such rains to fall might be at 0.1 percent a year, but as weather continues evolving, that statistic could become meaningless. Such floods might become a regular part of summer monsoons.
That’s why the flood’s timing could mean better preparation for future — and likely more frequent — extreme weather events. Plus, the July floods came just as city officials are completing their new stormwater management plan, expected to be ready in about 40 or so days. In real time, Santa Fe residents learned what stormwater, raging through overloaded and perhaps even inadequate arroyo and drainage systems, can do.
With that information, especially when compared to computer simulations of flooding, city officials can begin to assess infrastructure needs — and not just for arroyos, but to direct stormwater runoff.
A deluge of water shouldn’t gather enough force to flood houses across Siringo Road from state buildings and the old Santa Fe University of Art and Design campus. Drainage in the Nave Ade area proved inadequate, too, because of the amount of precipitation. Part of dealing with heavy rains is finding a place for runoff, and that’s something Santa Fe should do better. With knowledge of what happens after severe storms, it can devise new systems to handle excess water.
There must be communication with Santa Fe County, too, about looking at how rains in the mountains and in town can send rushing water to rural areas — witness the flooding in La Cienega, which devastated many people. It appears, as bad as damage was for some folks, it might not be worth enough total dollars to qualify flooded areas for federal disaster assistance.
That’s going to be hard on individuals, although news that Gov. Susana Martinez is releasing disaster funds gave some relief. About $750,000 each will be available in Santa Fe and Valencia counties to assist with repairing flood damage through the New Mexico Disaster Assistance Program. She declared both counties disasters last week, making the funds available.
Still many people are on their own in replacing damaged homes, walls, outbuildings and landscaping. The city should look for ways to help citizens out without breaking the bank. That could include low-interest loans for homeowners and businesses, partnerships with businesses or nonprofits to provide workers and more contracting with private companies to do better cleanup of roads, arroyos and other areas impacted by floodwaters. El Rancho de las Golondrinas will need community support because of its flood damage, for example.
We all will be better off if crumbling walls on sidewalks, broken fences and other storm damage are fixed, and it might take a village to get that done. (To honor the community response — both from city workers and individuals — Mayor Alan Webber took time last week to proclaim Aug. 8, 2018, Flood Response and Recovery Community Recognition Day. As a possible follow up, he might declare Flood Cleanup Day, and offer city assistance in neighborhoods that are hard hit and still a mess. The repercussions of flooding take time to assess.)
This storm provided a test case of whether the city’s infrastructure could handle runoff from severe storms. It is clear we need to do more to prevent flooding. There are a variety of measures, including working on arroyos upstream so the water doesn’t flow as fast, and revegetating hillsides to slow runoff. In town, arroyos need to be better maintained so that trash and debris don’t block storm drains. Long-term, the city needs to build better drainage and allow more permeable parking lots to capture water.
It showed us what happens after, when cleanup crews begin clearing debris and helping citizens. More than 200 employees helped citizens after the floods, with the Emergency Operations Center taking 1,200 phone calls and coordinating 1,613 direct-labor and 900 equipment hours related to the event. Citywide, there were reports of damage at 298 residences and 22 businesses.
We know that even though such severe storms are rare, they are likely to be less so going forward because of climate change. Now, we all have to adjust to this new reality.