More frequent flooding is prompting cities to evaluate their aging stormwater systems, but the necessary upgrades could be prohibitively expensive for small communities.
Small Iowa towns must make costly infrastructure upgrades to protect residents from increasingly common flooding, reports Rebekah Vaughan for KCRG.
“The state climatologist says more rain is falling during storms and stormwater infrastructure in urban areas wasn’t designed to handle that much water,” Vaughan adds. “Most rains, we’re fine, we don’t have any issues, but when we get the one to two inches in an hour, we can’t keep up,” said Tim Vick, city administrator in Manchester, Iowa.
Cities like Manchester are now making plans to upgrade aging infrastructure and replace decades-old pipes, but costs could run into the hundreds of millions, a heavy lift for smaller communities.
Read the full story: Aging stormwater infrastructure struggles to keep up; updates could be costly for small towns
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