Miami gets $6.5 million for flood mitigation

In downtown Miami, some debris still remains in Bloody Tanks Wash after last fall's destructive floods. A recent federal grant is expected to help clear that debris and mitigate future flooding.

In mid-February, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service awarded Miami $6.5 million for flood mitigation projects through its Emergency Watershed Protection Program, plus $1.1 million for technical assistance in engineering design. 

Town Manager Alexis Rivera said the $6.5 million is a 75-25 grant, with NRCS providing 75 percent of the estimated $8.7 million construction budget. The town will contribute the other 25 percent (roughly $2 million). Rivera said they were seeking funding avenues for that amount. 

The project area will encompass Bloody Tanks Wash from the underpass near FMI's Bluebird Training Center eastward into downtown Miami. Project components will include water retention dams, debris retention dams, and debris and sediment removal.

Miami has engaged engineering firm Wilson & Company for technical assistance, using an existing procurement contract from the Town of Gilbert.

Wilson & Company water resource project manager Patrick Wolf said the firm has designed a 25-foot-high embankment for the Bloody Tanks Wash tributary near Mackey's Camp. They will also design access roads into the main wash and clean out the wash to increase its capacity,  he added, while being careful to avoid the utility lines that run there.

“We will have wash design plans showing what dimensions the wash should have,” Wolf said. 

In addition, Wilson & Company will be designing improvements in the Adonis Avenue area, including a maintenance road for the check basin and a better sediment inlet.

Rivera said that once the grant confirmation letter is received, the town's next step will be signing an Emergency Watershed Protection Program Statement of Work contract with the USDA. They will then have further meetings with Wilson & Company, and with the selected construction firm. Under the grant, projects must be completed 220 days from the date of the confirmation letter.