Watertown city officials are waiting on a final report from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on a project to limit damage during times of spring flooding on the Big Sioux River.
Alan Stager is Watertown City Manager. “We anticipate the final version will be stamped in August,” said Stager. “And that version, after quite a bit of study, is going to recommend widening the channel south of the 14th Avenue bridge and raising a levy on what they call the left or east bank.”
Stager says what’s NOT in the report might be as important as what is. “Importantly, what it doesn’t do, is it doesn’t utilize Lake Kampeska as a storage reservoir.”
The estimated cost of flood mitigation in Watertown is around $40 million, with the city responsible for about $8 million.
The last major flood event on the Big Sioux in Watertown occurred in 1997.