Braintree Hosts Workshop on Monatiquot River Anti-Flood Plans (USA)

The development of a watershed plan for the Monatiquot River will be discussed during a workshop at 6 p.m. Wednesday in the Braintree Town Hall auditorium.

Graduate students from the landscape architecture and regional planning program at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst are doing a study of the river as a class project. They will present their initial findings regarding flood mitigation, river access and water quality.

Residents are encouraged to attend the session so their preferences and concerns can be reflected in the plan.

The river surged over its banks twice after heavy rainfalls in March 2010, flooding homes, businesses, commuter-rail tracks, the municipal golf course and the town’s highway department garage. Kensington Avenue, which is behind the highway garage, had to be evacuated during one of the storms.

In a meeting last April, Mayor Joseph Sullivan said the town would look for ways to prevent flood damage in future storms of this magnitude – by dredging the Monatiquot and other rivers, for example.

“We’re not going to let this situation happen and close our eyes and think it won’t happen for another 50 or 75 years, Sullivan said at the meeting.

The project and the workshop are being sponsored by Sullivan and the town’s planning and community development department.

(patriotledger)

[mappress]

Source: patriotledger, April 1, 2011