'We are committed.' $8 million project underway to help mitigate flooding along Rooster River
The first selectperson says the projects are designed to hold back the rate of stormwater runoff and release it downstream at a slower pace.
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It's been a long time coming, but town officials in Fairfield say flood mitigation work along the Rooster River corridor has finally begun.
Construction crews have started building a detention pond at Fairchild Wheeler golf course, First Selectperson Christine Vitale says, while work on a second detention pond at nearby Tunxis Hill Park will begin soon.
"There's a lot of anxiety, and a lot of trauma around the last two intense rain events that we had," Vitale says. "We're so excited to get this project started."
The first selectperson says the projects are designed to hold back the rate of stormwater runoff and release it downstream at a slower pace.
Officials say the ponds will be completed with some functional flood mitigation by the end of the year and be fully completed by the spring.
They stress that the project is highly weather-dependent.
"I don't think it's going to make the problem completely go away for those 100–200-year storms," Vitale says. "But for some of those smaller storms... our hope is that it's going to make it go away."
A third phase in the town's flood resiliency plan is to remove sediment from the river over the course of the next two years, Vitale says.
"I just hope that this gives residents confirmation and reassurance that we are committed to this project," Vitale says.
