{"id":8821,"date":"2014-05-09T13:23:03","date_gmt":"2014-05-09T17:23:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/?p=8821"},"modified":"2014-05-09T13:39:54","modified_gmt":"2014-05-09T17:39:54","slug":"videos-flooding-study-by-army-corps-of-engineers-vcc-2014-05-06","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/2014\/05\/videos-flooding-study-by-army-corps-of-engineers-vcc-2014-05-06.html","title":{"rendered":"Videos: Flooding study by Army Corps of Engineers @ VCC 2014-05-06"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\r\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/dcbdfd74dbc950128110851f2a8689c2.jpg\">\r\n<img decoding=\"async\" style=\"float:right;border:none\" src=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/5e58fc142b2c3f1e89d0cd7d250b35e3.jpg\"><\/a>\r\nIn these videos of\r\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/2014\/05\/flooding-study-tonight-twice-vcc-2014-05-06.html\">\r\nthe initial flooding study\r\nby the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at the Valdosta City Council Work Session<\/a>,\r\nyou can see they&#8217;re the Corps, all right: they want to build a levee.\r\nThey did emphasize that this was just an initial study on\r\nwhat could be done inside Valdosta, and their main conclusion\r\nwas that there was enough need to indicate federal interest,\r\nas in possibilities of getting federal funding for solutions.\r\nCity Manager Larry Hanson got the Corps to confirm (several times)\r\nthat Valdosta alone couldn&#8217;t stop the flooding, since the vast\r\nmajority of floodwaters comes from upstream\r\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.wwals.net\/2014\/05\/06\/flooding-charts-2\/\">\r\non the Withlacoochee and Little Rivers<\/a>.\r\n<p>\r\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.wwals.net\/2014\/05\/06\/flooding-charts-2\/\">\r\n<img decoding=\"async\" style=\"float:right;border:none;width:150px\" src=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wwals.net\/wp-content\/themes\/pianoblack\/img\/\/2014\/05\/3913090c9727925d490e4aa51cf31ffd.jpg\"><\/a>\r\nLater that same evening in response to citizen questions\r\nat the Valdosta City Hall Annex, the Corps clarified more that\r\nthey did understand there were issues of impervious surfaces\r\nand development and loss of wetlands and they wanted to\r\ndo a much larger study of the entire watershed,\r\nwhich could take several years to accomplish.\r\nThey kept emphasizing that the Suwannee River watershed\r\nis one of the largest in the country, and there are also\r\nflooding problems on the Suwannee River, which could be important\r\nfor obtaining federal dollars.\r\n<p>\r\n\r\nAs we already knew, Valdosta has funded projects already started\r\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/2014\/04\/valdosta-working-to-fix-sewer-problems.html\">\r\nto move the Withlacoochee Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) uphill\r\nand to add a force main to prevent manhole overflows<\/a>.\r\nPeople\r\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/2014\/04\/sewage-into-the-withlacoochee-again-wctv.html\">\r\ndownstream in Florida<\/a> may be relieved to hear something is being done.\r\n<\/p>\r\n<p>\r\nHere&#8217;s\r\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/playlist?list=PLshUv86fYkiGngiPfH37W93DY7ijvftna\">\r\na video playlist,<\/a> followed by images of the Corp&#8217;s slides and of the City Council, and some notes.\r\n<\/p><!--more-->\r\n<p style=\"text-align:center;font-size:80%\">\r\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/videoseries?list=PLshUv86fYkiGngiPfH37W93DY7ijvftna\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\r\n<br>\r\n<a title=\"1600x1200 Gretchen videoing for LAKE, in Flooding Study --Army Corps of Engineers at Valdosta City Council, by John S. Quarterman, for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange, 6 May 2014\" href=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/d8930baa3e309eb2262165739f19ad17.jpg\">\r\n<img decoding=\"async\" style=\"float:right;border:none;width:150px\" alt=\"300x225 Gretchen videoing for LAKE, in Flooding Study --Army Corps of Engineers at Valdosta City Council, by John S. Quarterman, for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange, 6 May 2014\" src=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/73e366736f9437a22da075935ebc3cc9.jpg\"><\/a>\r\nVideos: Flooding study by Army Corps of Engineers\r\n<br>\r\nUSACE Flooding Study,\r\n<br>\r\nWork Session, Valdosta City Council (VCC),\r\n<br>\r\nVideo by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE),\r\n<br>\r\nValdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 6 May 2014.\r\n<\/p>\r\n<p>\r\n<a title=\"517x357 Emily P. Davenport, Valdosta Stormwater Manager, in Flooding Study --Army Corps of Engineers at Valdosta City Council, by Gretchen Quarterman, for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange, 6 May 2014\" href=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/052fddef083034f9c466e9749c8fedbf.jpg\">\r\n<img decoding=\"async\" style=\"float:right;border:none\" alt=\"300x207 Emily P. Davenport, Valdosta Stormwater Manager, in Flooding Study --Army Corps of Engineers at Valdosta City Council, by Gretchen Quarterman, for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange, 6 May 2014\" src=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/83a8d8c3531a6ae5eeddbdf4bab22a86.jpg\"><\/a>\r\nThe introduction was by\r\nEmily P. Davenport, Stormwater Manager, Engineering Department, City of Valdosta.\r\n<p style=\"text-align:center\">\r\n<a title=\"559x323 Withlacoochee River and Sugar Creek Flooding Analysis for the City of Valdosta, in Flooding Study --Army Corps of Engineers at Valdosta City Council, by Gretchen Quarterman, for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange, 6 May 2014\" href=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/?attachment_id=8724\">\r\n<img decoding=\"async\" style=\"border:none;\" src=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/dcbdfd74dbc950128110851f2a8689c2.jpg\"><\/a>\r\n<p>\r\nThe main speaker was David P. Apple, P.E., Chief, Watershed Planning Section,\r\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/JacksonvilleDistrict\/photos\/a.10150097958424148.314390.105258054147\/119732329147\/?type=1&#038;source=11\">\r\nU.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Jacksonville District<\/a>.\r\n<p>\r\n<a title=\"572x319 Purpose of the Analysis, in Flooding Study --Army Corps of Engineers at Valdosta City Council, by Gretchen Quarterman, for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange, 6 May 2014\" href=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/f6ed22422b188463265ca104a1c6fd91.jpg\">\r\n<img decoding=\"async\" style=\"float:right;border:none\" alt=\"300x167 Purpose of the Analysis, in Flooding Study --Army Corps of Engineers at Valdosta City Council, by Gretchen Quarterman, for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange, 6 May 2014\" src=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/07c2234f83532e722e1a0c41f711f66c.jpg\"><\/a>\r\nThe main purpose of the initial study seemed to be the third bullet point\r\non that slide:\r\n<blockquote>\r\nEstablish potential Federal interest in pursuing future USACE\r\nflood risk management studies related to the study area toward\r\na more holistic approach\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n<p>\r\n<a title=\"651x351 Modeling Conclusion, in Flooding Study --Army Corps of Engineers at Valdosta City Council, by Gretchen Quarterman, for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange, 6 May 2014\" href=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/6d7db40c17b9329f693fe33f4008542d.jpg\">\r\n<img decoding=\"async\" style=\"float:right;border:none\" alt=\"300x162 Modeling Conclusion, in Flooding Study --Army Corps of Engineers at Valdosta City Council, by Gretchen Quarterman, for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange, 6 May 2014\" src=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/00ace4b0bd3a0d9641b5c3ebc6489d9b.jpg\"><\/a>\r\nThe Corps&#8217; main modeling conclusion was that\r\n<blockquote>\r\nflooding is due to rising water in the Withlacoochee River\r\nand Little River which backs up into Sugar Creek and Two Mile Branch.\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n<p>\r\n<a title=\"703x391 Robert Yost (District 6), in Flooding Study --Army Corps of Engineers at Valdosta City Council, by Gretchen Quarterman, for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange, 6 May 2014\" href=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/5cf02a176168ea13d391c9816b2c6a56.jpg\">\r\n<img decoding=\"async\" style=\"float:right;border:none\" alt=\"300x167 Robert Yost (District 6), in Flooding Study --Army Corps of Engineers at Valdosta City Council, by Gretchen Quarterman, for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange, 6 May 2014\" src=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/f377aa5c3c9399fad8037140be099b42.jpg\"><\/a>\r\nThere was some discussion of whether water was backing up in the Withlacoochee\r\nRiver due to the railroad trestle.\r\nAnswer: not really, according to recorded flow above and below the trestle.\r\nCouncil Robert Yost (Sugar Creek is in his District 6) asked,\r\n<blockquote>\r\nYou may not have found any structures, but surely\r\nthe paving of large parking lots and stuff like that didn&#8217;t help\r\nwith the drainage of water around the community?\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n<p>\r\nThe Corps&#8217; response was that the problem is from the water\r\ncoming from upstream on the Withlacoochee and Little Rivers,\r\nrising into Sugar Creek and Two Mile Branch.\r\n<blockquote>\r\n<a title=\"703x388 David P. Apple, Chief, Watershed Planning Section, Jacksonville District, USACE, in Flooding Study --Army Corps of Engineers at Valdosta City Council, by Gretchen Quarterman, for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange, 6 May 2014\" href=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/0be71325d75296607127efc4ad75a8bb.jpg\">\r\n<img decoding=\"async\" style=\"float:right;border:none\" alt=\"300x166 David P. Apple, Chief, Watershed Planning Section, Jacksonville District, USACE, in Flooding Study --Army Corps of Engineers at Valdosta City Council, by Gretchen Quarterman, for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange, 6 May 2014\" src=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/c86533b372c2c1e6f4c2b499b32ec2db.jpg\"><\/a>\r\nThe water can&#8217;t get out.  Because of that, it is backing up.\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n<p>\r\nYost also wanted to know whether the information being presented\r\nhad ever been looked at that way before.\r\nThe rather longwinded answer was apparently not,\r\nbecause this study gathered together data from many sources\r\n(USGA, National Weather Service, local data, Valdosta&#8217;s previous studies, etc.)\r\nand modeled it in new ways.\r\n<p>\r\n<a title=\"703x226 Tim Carroll, District 5, Valdosta City Council, in Flooding Study --Army Corps of Engineers at Valdosta City Council, by Gretchen Quarterman, for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange, 6 May 2014\" href=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/9d319d332f01c5f343e15e2387a73381.jpg\">\r\n<img decoding=\"async\" style=\"float:right;border:none\" alt=\"300x97 Tim Carroll, District 5, Valdosta City Council, in Flooding Study --Army Corps of Engineers at Valdosta City Council, by Gretchen Quarterman, for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange, 6 May 2014\" src=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/ba603ef014a7fd11e8abf85dbc52c119.jpg\"><\/a>\r\nCouncil Tim Carroll (District 5) wanted to know on behalf of the citizens,\r\nsince 2009 and 2013 obviously are not 700 or even 100 years apart,\r\n<blockquote>\r\nWhat has happened?\r\nWhat is going on that suddenly in the last four years\r\nour city and our community, not just the city of Valdosta,\r\nbut the county as well, have experienced these flooding situations?\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n<p>\r\nCarroll continued:\r\n<blockquote>\r\nObviously this is just a small picture of the total.\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n<p>\r\nDavid Apple noted that there was also flooding on the Suwannee at\r\nLive Oak, and the Corps wanted to look both upstream and downstream,\r\nat all the tributaries.\r\nHe indicated some of the problems could be infrastructure,\r\nor how to manage water,\r\nor even drought conditions with sudden rain and runoff.\r\n<p>\r\n<a title=\"702x210 Larry Hanson, Valdosta City Manager, in Flooding Study --Army Corps of Engineers at Valdosta City Council, by Gretchen Quarterman, for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange, 6 May 2014\" href=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/b23aaa55824d7af5eeab59c6465d490e.jpg\">\r\n<img decoding=\"async\" style=\"float:right;border:none\" alt=\"300x90 Larry Hanson, Valdosta City Manager, in Flooding Study --Army Corps of Engineers at Valdosta City Council, by Gretchen Quarterman, for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange, 6 May 2014\" src=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/537e7f089e59e6d2da0678bbeb193511.jpg\"><\/a>\r\nCity Manager Larry Hanson noted that they wanted to do a followon study.\r\nApple took the cue and said one of the most important results of\r\nthe initial study was it indicated there was a need for a larger study.\r\n<p>\r\n<a title=\"702x149 Alvin Payton, Jr., District 4, Valdosta City Council, in Flooding Study --Army Corps of Engineers at Valdosta City Council, by Gretchen Quarterman, for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange, 6 May 2014\" href=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/d52c904ae5a70c3d943f45a8361d8805.jpg\">\r\n<img decoding=\"async\" style=\"float:right;border:none\" alt=\"300x64 Alvin Payton, Jr., District 4, Valdosta City Council, in Flooding Study --Army Corps of Engineers at Valdosta City Council, by Gretchen Quarterman, for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange, 6 May 2014\" src=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/6a5b26a23e09207514513ad8c2da2d68.jpg\"><\/a>\r\nCouncil Alvin Payton, Jr. (District 4) wanted to know the definition of a watershed.\r\nVarious people answered, including Hanson, who said people in\r\nHahira and Adel and Tifton wanted many of the same answers.\r\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.wwals.net\/2013\/07\/21\/streamer-on-the-alapaha-and-withlacoochee-rivers\/\">\r\n<img decoding=\"async\" style=\"float:right;border:none\" src=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farm3.staticflickr.com\/2806\/9338248298_41aa16b3e1_n.jpg\"><\/a>\r\nThe simple answer is a watershed is where all the water runs to the same place.\r\nBecause of that, local ecologies and communities are bound together by the water.\r\n<p>\r\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/?attachment_id=8768\">\r\n<img decoding=\"async\" style=\"float:left;border:none;width:135px\" src=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/93cdda04a2d5725567de903b7f869744.jpg\"><\/a>\r\nThe particular watershed the Valdosta City Council is most interested in\r\nis that of the Withlacoochee River, which starts all the way up in Turner County\r\nand includes water from Colquitt County and Brooks County in addition to\r\nCook, Berrien, and Tift Counties.\r\nThis is the west half of the territory of the\r\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.wwals.net\/2013\/07\/21\/streamer-on-the-alapaha-and-withlacoochee-rivers\/\">\r\nWWALS Watershed Coalition<\/a>; the complete territory is the same as on the Corps&#8217; Conclusion map (shown on the left here).\r\n<p>\r\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.wwals.net\/2013\/07\/21\/streamer-on-the-alapaha-and-withlacoochee-rivers\/\">\r\n<img decoding=\"async\" style=\"float:right;border:none\" src=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farm6.staticflickr.com\/5487\/9338246970_cfd7dd5df5_n.jpg\"><\/a>\r\nThe other WWALS half is the watershed of the Alapaha River and its tributaries\r\nthe Willacoochee and Alapahoochee Rivers.\r\nValdosta isn&#8217;t as interested in those, since they don&#8217;t back up and\r\nflood Valdosta or its other wastewater treatment plant on Mud Creek.\r\n<p>\r\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.wwals.net\/2013\/07\/21\/streamer-on-the-alapaha-and-withlacoochee-rivers\/\">\r\n<img decoding=\"async\" style=\"float:left;border:none;width:160px\" src=\"http:\/\/i2.wp.com\/farm4.staticflickr.com\/3744\/9338250452_a81d5c9f13.jpg\"><\/a>\r\nThe Corps is apparently more interested in the even larger watershed\r\nof the Suwannee River, which includes not only the Alapaha River\r\nbut also the Suwannee upstream from the Okefenokee Swamp (which does not\r\ndirectly affect Valdosta) and downstream, including the Santa Fe\r\nand Ichetucknee Rivers in Florida.\r\n<p>\r\n\r\nCouncil James Wright (District 1) mentioned the difference between\r\na physical model (&#8220;a model that you put on the table and it shows how the water flows&#8221;) and the type of modelling the Corps was doing.\r\n<p style=\"text-align:center\"><a title=\"648x109 James Wright, District 1, Valdosta City Council, in Flooding Study --Army Corps of Engineers at Valdosta City Council, by Gretchen Quarterman, for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange, 6 May 2014\" href=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/3248949b144d73d7b23b3905da3e8617.jpg\">\r\n<img decoding=\"async\" style=\"border:none\" alt=\"James Wright, District 1, Valdosta City Council, in Flooding Study --Army Corps of Engineers at Valdosta City Council, by Gretchen Quarterman, for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange, 6 May 2014\" src=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/3248949b144d73d7b23b3905da3e8617.jpg\"><\/a>\r\n<p><a title=\"346x261 Tim Carroll: loss of natural wetlands, in Flooding Study --Army Corps of Engineers at Valdosta City Council, by Gretchen Quarterman, for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange, 6 May 2014\" href=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/2c044459ba4b039b8da0ad9cd83501061.jpg\">\r\n<img decoding=\"async\" style=\"float:right;border:none\" alt=\"300x226 Tim Carroll: loss of natural wetlands, in Flooding Study --Army Corps of Engineers at Valdosta City Council, by Gretchen Quarterman, for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange, 6 May 2014\" src=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/9dd91ef6cfc5cd5987685ee1226f91f41.jpg\"><\/a>\r\nCouncil Carroll mentioned that they&#8217;d need much more data for the larger watershed study.\r\nThe Corps agreed, and I think they even said they\r\nwould take into account vegetation.\r\n<p>\r\n\r\nCouncil Carroll wanted to know how loss of natural wetlands affected\r\nflooding.\r\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=3DzR1hAfzAM&#038;index=2&#038;list=PLshUv86fYkiGngiPfH37W93DY7ijvftna&#038;26m50s\">\r\nApple answered<\/a> about the\r\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.evergladesplan.org\/\">\r\nEverglades restoration project<\/a>,\r\nfor which they were looking at the effects of agriculture.\r\n<p>\r\n\r\nSo the Corps looked at seven alternatives for plan formulation:\r\n<ol>\r\n<li>\r\n\r\n<a title=\"565x338 Plan Formulation with seven alternatives, in Flooding Study --Army Corps of Engineers at Valdosta City Council, by Gretchen Quarterman, for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange, 6 May 2014\" href=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/58d033293d84ffa20191bd7050641c68.jpg\">\r\n<img decoding=\"async\" style=\"float:right;border:none\" alt=\"300x179 Plan Formulation with seven alternatives, in Flooding Study --Army Corps of Engineers at Valdosta City Council, by Gretchen Quarterman, for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange, 6 May 2014\" src=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/0537e5e35135e6e6a60f2273442cfa04.jpg\"><\/a>\r\nFull acquisition\r\n<li>Elevation\r\n<li>Elevation and acquisition\r\n<li>Flood proofing\r\n<li>Channelization of the Withlacoochee\r\n<li>Alteration of the confluence of the Withlacoochee River and Little River\r\n<li>\r\nFlood control levee and stucture in Sugar Creek at the confluence with the Withlacoochee River\r\n<\/ol>\r\nNumbers 1-6 proved too expensive (although I predict Valdosta will\r\nend up buying out most of the affected houses),\r\nso the Corps proposes to do number 7: a levee.\r\n<p style=\"text-align:center\">\r\n<a title=\"636x345 Levee Map, in Flooding Study --Army Corps of Engineers at Valdosta City Council, by Gretchen Quarterman, for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange, 6 May 2014\" href=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/7e0dc33bf44e7ef5eabf0fc4094321b3.jpg\">\r\n<img decoding=\"async\" style=\"border:none\" alt=\"600x325 Levee Map, in Flooding Study --Army Corps of Engineers at Valdosta City Council, by Gretchen Quarterman, for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange, 6 May 2014\" src=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/4faa7b09c8b4e479d97b8f6beec4a409.jpg\"><\/a>\r\n<p>\r\nThere was some confusion about where the water from Sugar Creek would go\r\nwhen the flood gate on the culvert under the levee was closed.\r\n<p style=\"text-align:center\">\r\n<a title=\"637x344 Levee Concept, in Flooding Study --Army Corps of Engineers at Valdosta City Council, by Gretchen Quarterman, for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange, 6 May 2014\" href=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/1bc1ad22dab6b2591450198fd314ecbb.jpg\">\r\n<img decoding=\"async\" style=\"border:none\" alt=\"600x324 Levee Concept, in Flooding Study --Army Corps of Engineers at Valdosta City Council, by Gretchen Quarterman, for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange, 6 May 2014\" src=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/4224b675a682426b735d2427ee3bb6f4.jpg\"><\/a>\r\n<p>\r\nAnswer: when the Withlacoochee floods, water can&#8217;t get out from Sugar Creek\r\nanyway; what the levee would do would be to stop Withlacoochee water\r\nfrom flooding Sugar Creek.\r\n<p style=\"text-align:center\">\r\n<a title=\"704x387 Levee Detail, in Flooding Study --Army Corps of Engineers at Valdosta City Council, by Gretchen Quarterman, for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange, 6 May 2014\" href=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/32f13b2f62a039af36d31ae95b014b97.jpg\">\r\n<img decoding=\"async\" style=\"border:none\" alt=\"600x330 Levee Detail, in Flooding Study --Army Corps of Engineers at Valdosta City Council, by Gretchen Quarterman, for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange, 6 May 2014\" src=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/8147dd550a01d96983c2535cf04ee70f.jpg\"><\/a>\r\n<p>\r\n<a title=\"568x120 John Gayle, Mayor of Valdosta, in Flooding Study --Army Corps of Engineers at Valdosta City Council, by Gretchen Quarterman, for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange, 6 May 2014\" href=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/cdffe180fb4356e7faa4e7be49f02c83.jpg\">\r\n<img decoding=\"async\" style=\"float:right;border:none\" alt=\"300x63 John Gayle, Mayor of Valdosta, in Flooding Study --Army Corps of Engineers at Valdosta City Council, by Gretchen Quarterman, for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange, 6 May 2014\" src=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/fad21cd9831f22c29f83920a1a464bb1.jpg\"><\/a>\r\nMayor John Gayle noted that usually rainfall goes out from Sugar Creek\r\nbefore the Withlacoochee starts rising from rainfall upstream.\r\nCouncil Yost said nonetheless if rain falls on Valdosta while\r\nthe Withlacoochee is flooding, it can&#8217;t get out.\r\nThe Corps said that would be the case anyway,\r\nand the levee would stop the Withlacoochee flood water from making\r\nSugar Creek even worse.\r\nThe Council did not seem satisfied.\r\n<p style=\"text-align:center\">\r\n<a title=\"634x344 Levee Features, in Flooding Study --Army Corps of Engineers at Valdosta City Council, by Gretchen Quarterman, for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange, 6 May 2014\" href=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/2f0c3876359833cecaa393d1c1a33156.jpg\">\r\n<img decoding=\"async\" style=\"border:none\" alt=\"600x326 Levee Features, in Flooding Study --Army Corps of Engineers at Valdosta City Council, by Gretchen Quarterman, for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange, 6 May 2014\" src=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/e0a97f1688236a0e10cd5c96b63c5ecb.jpg\"><\/a>\r\n<p>\r\nThe Corps emphasized freeboard between the maximum expected Withlacoochee\r\nfloodwater height and the top of the levee to prevent overtopping.\r\nWhich is a good idea.\r\nUnless of course they miscalculated and Sugar Creek turns into\r\nthe Ninth Ward of New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina.\r\n<p style=\"text-align:center\">\r\n<a title=\"561x300 Benefits, in Flooding Study --Army Corps of Engineers at Valdosta City Council, by Gretchen Quarterman, for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange, 6 May 2014\" href=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/?attachment_id=8804\">\r\n<img decoding=\"async\" style=\"border:none\" alt=\"300x160 Benefits, in Flooding Study --Army Corps of Engineers at Valdosta City Council, by Gretchen Quarterman, for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange, 6 May 2014\" src=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/bdd1079478f6f2db1f8465117e190249.jpg\"><\/a>\r\n<p>\r\nSo the benefits of the levee would be to reduce the depth and duration\r\nof flooding.\r\nThis would result in:\r\n<blockquote>\r\nmore time for homeowners and businesses to access property:\r\n<br>\r\nand potentially less damage due to less standing water\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n<p>\r\nA couple of model maps of comparison showed\r\nthere would still be flooding.\r\n<p style=\"text-align:center\">\r\n<a title=\"555x288 Before, in Flooding Study --Army Corps of Engineers at Valdosta City Council, by Gretchen Quarterman, for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange, 6 May 2014\" href=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/?attachment_id=8808\">\r\n<img decoding=\"async\" style=\"border:none\" alt=\"Before, in Flooding Study --Army Corps of Engineers at Valdosta City Council, by Gretchen Quarterman, for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange, 6 May 2014\" src=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/7e802321bfb10b898bd2a7fa771d16a2.jpg\"><\/a>\r\n<p style=\"text-align:center\">\r\n<a title=\"543x309 Compare, in Flooding Study --Army Corps of Engineers at Valdosta City Council, by Gretchen Quarterman, for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange, 6 May 2014\" href=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/?attachment_id=8809\">\r\n<img decoding=\"async\" style=\"border:none\" alt=\"Compare, in Flooding Study --Army Corps of Engineers at Valdosta City Council, by Gretchen Quarterman, for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange, 6 May 2014\" src=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/83dffb257af0e48a5abae3f974cb8939.jpg\"><\/a>\r\n\r\n<p>\r\nThe flooding just would have less effect.\r\n<p style=\"text-align:center\">\r\n<a title=\"660x378 Cost and Assumptions, in Flooding Study --Army Corps of Engineers at Valdosta City Council, by Gretchen Quarterman, for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange, 6 May 2014\" href=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/8ac16e0e978203c0d91b3d5cab0ce4af.jpg\">\r\n<img decoding=\"async\" style=\"border:none\" alt=\"600x344 Cost and Assumptions, in Flooding Study --Army Corps of Engineers at Valdosta City Council, by Gretchen Quarterman, for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange, 6 May 2014\" src=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/8cfd97085891a17e9670a83159786dac.jpg\"><\/a>\r\n<p>\r\nEstimated levee and culvert cost: $3,581,686,\r\nnot including operation and maintenance.\r\n<blockquote>\r\nBenefit to Cost Ratio Estimated to be 1.4.\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n<p>\r\nCouncil Carroll wanted a timeline for doing the larger study.\r\nAnswer: about a year to gather the information (data, conversations, etc.),\r\nand to find the non-federal partners such as the states of Florida and Georgia.\r\nThe Congressional members for Florida and Georgia could push for a watershed\r\nstudy to authorize the Corps to do it.\r\nLater across the street at the Annex I think David Apple said the actual\r\nstudy could take about four years.\r\n<p style=\"text-align:center\">\r\n<a title=\"590x325 Conclusion, in Flooding Study --Army Corps of Engineers at Valdosta City Council, by Gretchen Quarterman, for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange, 6 May 2014\" href=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/?attachment_id=8816\">\r\n<img decoding=\"async\" style=\"border:none\" alt=\"Conclusion, in Flooding Study --Army Corps of Engineers at Valdosta City Council, by Gretchen Quarterman, for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange, 6 May 2014\" src=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/ca7e467b071d8fc115e3c11d4a447a50.jpg\"><\/a>\r\n<p>\r\n -jsq\r\n<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In these videos of the initial flooding study by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at the Valdosta City Council Work Session, you can see they&#8217;re the Corps, all right: they want to build a levee. They did emphasize that this was just an initial study on what could be done inside Valdosta, and their [&hellip;]","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[14,2,570,3,54,55],"tags":[7629,453,8704,7630,304,7187,8701,8699,10,548,8702,127,12,7,1770,61,6629,296,8700,6157,6158,7628,6,8726,8727,58,295,90,8740,6257],"class_list":["post-8821","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-economy","category-government","category-military","category-transparency","category-valdosta-city-council","category-water","tag-6-may-2014","tag-alapaha-river","tag-economy","tag-emily-p-davenport","tag-flooding","tag-force-main","tag-georgia","tag-government","tag-gretchen-quarterman","tag-john-s-quarterman","tag-lake","tag-little-river","tag-lowndes-area-knowledge-exchange","tag-lowndes-county","tag-manhole","tag-sewage","tag-stormwater","tag-suwannee-river","tag-transparency","tag-u-s-army-corps-of-engineers","tag-usace","tag-usace-flooding-study","tag-valdosta","tag-valdosta-city-council","tag-water","tag-withlacoochee-river","tag-withlacoochee-wastewater-treatment-plant","tag-work-session","tag-wwals","tag-wwtp"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p585fK-2ih","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8821","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8821"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8821\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8837,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8821\/revisions\/8837"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8821"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8821"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8821"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}