City asks: Where will the water go
City asks: Where will the water go
Parshall is changing rapidly and the Parshall City Council has been trying to keep ahead of those changes by annexing property, replacing streets and sewers, building a new water plant and extending water lines to new customers. But even these steps just mean that there are more unanswered questions and problems to be solved in the coming years.
A new problem was brought up to the city council at its regular meeting Tuesday. Darrell Casteel, of AE2S, the city’s engineering company, asked the council if they had thought about storm runoff. As countryside is incorporated into the city, development will change how rain and snow will runoff. Parshall has had a long standing problem, especially near the fire hall, with water backing up in the spring and after heavy rains.
“Storm water is sometimes the last thing we think about when we are designing a development,” Casteel said. “Sometimes we never think about it until it is too late. Even now, we have a drainage issue by the fire hall. It backs up even during small events.”
Casteel said the city’s main problem was that it is surrounded by hills that drain water into a flat area surrounding Spring Creek. The water comes off hills quickly, but the creek only has about a 1.5 foot drop as it goes through town, so it can’t drain off water as quickly as it comes in.
