DESCRIPTION OF ISSUE
CONTEXT
WHERE/WHEN APPLICABLE
TESTIMONIES
LINKS

DESCRIPTION OF ISSUE:
Flooding is often a problem in urban areas with significant rainfall. A landscape of impervious surfaces and storm drains can severely disrupt the hydrologic cycle.

The hydrologic cycle is the process in which rain falls from the sky to the land, is used by the soil and growing things, accumulates in streams, rivers, and oceans, and then evaporates back into the air. In rural areas, only a small fraction of rainwater makes it into lakes and streams. Most rain is intercepted by leaves, soaked up by soil, sucked up by plants, or percolates through the soil to recharge the groundwater. This system prevents floods and conserves and purifies water.

The extent that a city is covered by impermeable surfaces such as sidewalks, parking lots, and buildings, in part, dictates how much of a problem flooding will be. Rain that falls on impermeable surfaces flows quickly from gutters and storm drains into sewers, carrying pet feces and toxic street grime along with it. No natural process cleans the water, and as a result, floods tend to be exceedingly more rapid and devastating in cities than in rural areas.

Physical restrictions of rivers and streams can also contribute to flooding. These include sediment build-up due to erosion and invasive vegetation, as well as constructed culverts and grates.

If, as is the case in much of the Heart of the City, stormwater overflow is funneled into the sewage system, it can result in basements and backyards flooding with raw sewage or raw sewage being dumped into the Charles River and Boston Harbor.

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CONTEXT:
Urban parks have long been recognized for the role they play in controlling floods and enhancing water quality. The Back Bay Fens, which is part of Frederick Law Olmsted's Emerald Necklace, was created in large part to solve the problems of flooding and pollution in the Back Bay. It was designed to retain rainwater so that the city would not become flooded during major storm events.

Muddy River as a model for restoration of the urban environment:
Flooding has been an enormous problem in the parts of Brookline and Boston impacted by the floodplain of the Muddy River, which runs through the outskirts of the Heart of the City. Since 1996, the Muddy River has flooded three times, causing damage to residences, businesses, and institutions in Boston and Brookline. The river and associated ponds have become silted with sediment. Underground pipes do not have the capacity to pass major flood flows. Water quality has deteriorated as a result of urban storm water runoff, which carries pollutants and sediments from streets and lots into the river. The Town of Brookline and the City of Boston are collaborating on a $92 million remediation project, which is still estimated to be significantly less expensive than the costs associated with even one serious flood.

The Muddy River Restoration is Phase I of the 1999 Emerald Necklace Master Plan. Its objectives include improvement of water quality and flood control, enhancement of aquatic/ riparian habitat, treatment of landscape, and historic resources. The goal is to improve flow characteristics so that the river has the capacity to pass major storm flows (Boston Parks and Recreation Department Annual Report: 1999-2000). This type of partnership and investment could serve as a model for environmental restoration and remediation in the Heart of the City.

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WHERE/ WHEN APPLICABLE:
Sewage flooding in Roslindale:
In Roslindale, between the Arnold Arboretum and Forest Hills Cemetery, there have been major flooding problems related to the antiquated Combined Sewage Overflow (CSO) system still in use there. The sewage lines are old and regularly exceed their daily capacity of 120 million gallons. As more of the land is developed and more soil is covered up by concrete, flooding issues become increasingly severe. Approximately 200 Roslindale residences and businesses experienced significant damage due to flooding in October 1996 when ten inches of rain fell on some areas and the sewer system backed up. Up to eight feet of raw sewage flooded some basements in a ten-street Roslindale neighborhood (flooded streets included Carlford, Bradeen, and Whipple).

Many residents said they found feces, toilet paper, and other untreated sewage floating in their back yards and basements. They said oil tanks ruptured, adding to the toxic waste, and burners went out, sending noxious carbon monoxide into their homes (Jack Sullivan, "Roslindale raising stink over sewage," The Boston Herald, Aug. 15, 1999). According to The Boston Globe, the flooding cost millions of dollars in damages to homes and businesses (Alisa Valdes, "Residents hit Roslindale flooding study," The Boston Globe, Mar. 6, 1997).

Flooding of Canterbury Brook:
The land along American Legion Highway and northwest of Mt. Hope Cemetery is also subject to flooding (from the Canterbury Brook). Flooding problems were exacerbated when Boston Water and Sewer put down a grate to prevent the full flow of water from traveling through the pipe.

Flooding of Bussey Brook:
Flooding of Bussey Brook in the South Street neighborhood in Roslindale has also been problematic. Houses along South Street were built up high and yards were left low and are still prone to flooding. Archdale Road/ South Street is a pressure point where Bussey Brook and the high level sewer converge. In the late 1990s, 400 feet of underground pipe was laid through the neck of the Bussey Brook property in order to channel surface drainage. Since that time, flooding problems have been much less frequent.

Flooding in and around Franklin Park:
Flooding has been problematic at Franklin Park golf course at the Williams Street entrance to Franklin Park along Forest Hills Street and in sections of the Playstead, including the parking lot/ basketball court. Runoff from Franklin Park has flowed onto Seaver Street in Roxbury. When the floodwater freezes in the wintertime this area can be particularly dangerous.

Natural impoundment areas:
Some lowland areas in the Heart of the City are protected from development. These areas perform ecosystem functions that protect the area from flooding. For example, the Bussey Brook parcel that is now leased by the Arnold Arboretum from the City of Boston serves as a floodplain and stormwater impoundment area. Soil and plants slowly process and clean the water as it percolates into the groundwater supply or slowly drains off the site. The South Street tract is also a beautiful, publicly accessible, and biologically diverse natural area.

Other protected lowlands include both the western campus of the Boston State Hospital site at the Boston Nature Center. On the eastern campus, development is restricted within a 100-foot buffer zone of the Canterbury Brook.

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TESTIMONIES:
"[Sewage] thoroughly inundated the property, destroyed construction equipment, computer equipment . . . It got into the triple-deckers Barletta owns across the street. Everything was covered with sewage" (David Lurie, attorney at Lurie & Krupp, Boston, from an article by Scott Allen, "$1.5m suit filed against MWRA, city over '96 Roslindale flooding," The Boston Globe, July 21, 1999).

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LINKS:
Information on the Muddy River Project.

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