The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers gave a presentation for the public at the Wilson County Courthouse about a study that aims to better prepare the county for future floods.
For nearly two years, the Corps of Engineers studied the Spencer Creek Watershed, which stretches from the Wilson and Sumner County border south along State Route 109 to near U.S. Highway 70, then east toward Lebanon near Leeville Pike.
Past flooding events stretching back to 2010 along the Spencer Creek Watershed were considered in the study, and Wilson County Planning Director Christopher Lawless says the information could help guide future development in the county to create responsible growth.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not necessarily going to fix any of the current issues here, but it will help, hopefully, mitigate some of the ones that could occur in the future,鈥 Lawless said.
Terrain data, input from residents, and analysis of bridges were fed into computer models to predict future high-water events, according to Kelley Peck, chief of the Water Resources Section of the 性视界APPACE Nashville District. She said data from the Wilson County Planning Office regarding current and future planned developments and population estimates for 2045 were also used.
性视界APPACE previously studied the Bartons Creek Watershed in Lebanon in 2015, which did not lead to any construction of any flood risk projects.
Wilson County Emergency Management Agency meteorologist Melissa Sizemore said more frequent and more intense rainstorms are likely to occur which will impact the watershed.
鈥淯nfortunately, that鈥檚 going to start occurring more and more often because of the way weather patterns are moving and the probability of certain things starting to increase,鈥 Sizemore said.
City of Lebanon Engineering Director of Development Mattie Neely said the study could be used to keep a closer eye on development including taking the results to the City Council to seek additional regulations developers must follow.
The meeting occurred on Tuesday, July 1, and since then extreme flooding events have occurred in parts of the nation, most notably in Texas. Local residents see the info session regarding the study as timely due to storm damage in East Tennessee during Hurricane Helene and recent storms which brought heavy rain to Middle Tennessee.
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