News Story

DES MOINES, IOWA — Tuesday, September 21, 2021 — It’s been three years since a torrential downpour brought a raging river of water through Beaverdale basements and backyards and now, something completely different is changing the landscape of the northwest Des Moines neighborhood.

"In 2018, I had the second major flooding of my basement, five feet of water and I lost everything” Des Moines Resident and neighbor of the project Gloria Hoffman said. “That’s why this project is so valuable to the whole community."

With nearly $6 million in funding from the Local Option Sales Tax and the Stormwater Utility Fee, the Closes Creek Phase 2B project has cut a massive scar into the earth behind the houses near 41st St. and College Ave. to create a basin capable of storing more water than 5 Olympic-sized swimming pools.

“Putting in basins like this allows the City to slow down that water during those bigger storm events,” Des Moines Clean Water Administrator Patrick Beane said. “It’s not going to store it permanently, but capture it and store it for a short period of time and slowly release it as storms come and go.”

Work on this phase of the project is expected to wrap up this year providing a sizable, above-ground detention basin for stormwater that will greatly reduce flash flooding both in this area of northwest Des Moines and further on downstream.

Click here for more information on Storm Sewer improvements in the Closes Creek watershed.