Detroit Water and Sewerage Department (DWSD) Director Gary Brown and Councilman Fred Durhal, III announced the groundbreaking of a five-year, $40 million stormwater project.
According to the city's news release, key aspects of the project are:
- The project will redirect rainwater and snowmelt from a westside neighborhood into two new detention basins;
- The new detention basins will filter stormwater and discharge it directly into the Rouge River;
- The project includes water main and lead service line replacement; And
- It will provide other neighborhood improvements.
The construction will be led by Detroit-based business Major Contracting.
There will also be the addition of downspout disconnections for about 400 houses that have gutter downspouts connected to the sewer system, added the city.
“After three years of community engagement with the Far West Civic Association, the Friends of Rouge Park along with other stakeholders, today we begin construction of our largest stormwater project to date,” said Gary Brown, DWSD director in the city's news release. “The stormwater improvement project in Far West Detroit is unique to our other 16 green stormwater infrastructure projects in that it redirects stormwater from an entire neighborhood into new detention basins in a city park and keeps it out of the sewer system by discharging to the Rouge River. It is transformative projects like this which will lead to operating a more climate resilient sewer system.”
According to the city, DWSD has been planning a stormwater project in the Far West Detroit neighborhood near Rouge Park since 2016. Regulatory approval from the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes & Energy (EGLE) has been secured and the construction of the stormwater retention project will be completed within five years. The project includes water system and sewer system upgrades and will direct roof and street runoff from the Far West Detroit neighborhood near West Warren and Telegraph Road into two new stormwater retention basins.
There are 1,200 homes in the neighborhood, according to the city.
It is estimated that the retention project will remove 98 million gallons of stormwater runoff each year from the combined sewer system on the city’s far west side, according to the city. Significant funding has been secured from the Oakland County Water Resources Commission. The stormwater will be stored in the new retention area to be filtered naturally before being discharged into the Rouge River.
A Far West Stormwater Improvement fact sheet is posted at https://detroitmi.gov/document/far-west-stormwater-improvement-project-fact-sheet-summer-2022, and project updates will be posted at www.detroitmi.gov/sewerupgrades. DWSD is also providing a monthly update via email to subscribers.
Major Contracting will be obligated to follow Mayor Mike Duggan’s Executive Order 2021-2, which requires at least 51% of the hours performed on city contracts more than $3 million is done by Detroit residents. The City of Detroit Civil Rights Inclusion & Opportunity Department monitor the compliance and DWSD’s opportunity and inclusion director will continually engage with the contractor and its subcontractors, reported the city.
