Detroit to install retention sites to prevent street flooding, basement backups

Detroit aims to curb street flooding and basement backups in its west side Brightmoor neighborhood next year through a $3.4 million grant and capital improvement funding package.

The city's Water and Sewerage Department will install 24 bioretention gardens, which will affect 100 homes, surrounding Fenkell Avenue. The sites are designed to receive and treat runoff from rainfall or snowmelt from nearby streets, said Lisa Wallick, field services director for stormwater. Construction is expected to begin and finish in 2024, pending City Council approval.

"The project will also propose to remove a portion of Blackstone Street ... about 460 feet of Blackstone between Midland and Keeler (streets)," Wallick said. "The project in total will manage stormwater from approximately 50 acres and treat about 9 million gallons of stormwater annually."

Property owners on the street will have to vacate during construction, if approved. Deputy Mayor Todd Bettison, in a statement, said the project is another example of Detroit leveraging "federal dollars to reduce flooding in our neighborhoods." Mayor Mike Duggan also recently announced that the city is using federal funding to replace 10,000 lead service lines this month.

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The city is using 92 parcels of vacant Detroit Land Bank Authority-owned properties. Detroit has 19 green stormwater infrastructure projects across the city, which manages about 53 million gallons of water annually, Wallick added. The new installations will be filled with grass fields, trees and shrubs. Green stormwater infrastructure is intended to soak up water before it discharges into sewers.

The $1.6 million grant funds include: $300,000 from the United States Forest Service, $600,000 from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, $300,000 from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and $429,375 from the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy. Wallick added that $1.8 million is from the department's capital improvement program to complete the construction.

The city is nearing the two-year mark of the June 2021 flood, which wrecked homes and left Detroiters without much financial assistance to restore the damage. Areas like Jefferson-Chalmers, which has experienced severe flooding and backup, are not part of the project. Wallick said the city is exploring options for the east side neighborhood.

"Usually, green infrastructure doesn't work in low lying flooded ... areas but it's being explored," Wallick said.

A map of project locations are available here.

Dana Afana is the Detroit city hall reporter for the Free Press. Contact Dana: dafana@freepress.com or 313-635-3491. Follow her on Twitter: @DanaAfana.