I hope July is worth it. On May 1 it’s snowing in northern Wisconsin, with a few fresh inches on the ground and the wind just knocked my power out.  

This was the snowiest winter in Wisconsin’s history, but it’s a place where you put up with long winters for the summer and fall. Sometimes you don’t even get a spring. Winter simply hangs on until summer can’t be stopped. And when it arrives it brings an effortlessness and sense of freedom.  

I imagine it’s similar to how you feel when a major project is completed and you no longer have to worry about a transmission main you know is ready to burst, or fear every forecast that calls for rain.   

The stormwater utilities in Frisco, Texas, and Charlotte, North Carolina, understand that fear of rain. Explosive growth in both communities combined with construction and more impervious surface has heightened the challenge of protecting local waterways and alleviating flood concerns.  

In Frisco, approximately 140 miles of streams ramble through the community’s boundaries. Beneath the surface of the city, water is channeled through 889 miles of stormwater pipe. When challenges arise, the department takes an innovative approach. 

When a fallen tree in a local creek threatened a downstream sewer line crossing, the department repositioned the tree and anchored it in place to protect an eroded section of the bank. When the city built a parking lot in 2015, the stormwater division created a different kind of absorption area as a demonstration of the advantages of using native plants and native soil in the zones. When beavers kept blocking a stream, they cut a passage through the dam and ran a culvert through it. It kept the water flowing and the beavers eventually gave up and moved on. When they needed a better — and more affordable — solution for collecting trash from streams, they designed and built their own debris catcher. It’s been so effective that the North Texas Council of Governments sent their engineers to study the structure so it could be replicated and offered to other municipalities in the council. 

In North Carolina, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Storm Water Services has taken on its fair share of stream improvements, too. The Reedy Creek project, which included 5 miles of stream restoration and nearly 3 miles of stream enhancements, raised the eroded stream bed and reconnected it with a 4-acre wetland that helps filter out pollutants. The utility’s Cedars East Storm Drainage Improvement Project, designed to mitigate flooding in a flood-prone residential neighborhood, was named the North Carolina Stormwater Project of the Year by the American Public Works Association. 

Both utilities are making huge strides in protecting local water resources and eliminating the fear of flooding.  

And that’s the thing, part of why summer is so good here in Wisconsin is because we deal with the cold of winter in order to get there. Stormwater awards mean more when you’ve suffered through the floods en route to making your communities more resilient.  

Here’s hoping today’s struggles lead to a better tomorrow. 

Enjoy this month’s issue.