Will Norwood Fix Flooding?

Stantec, the Town’s stormwater engineering firm, is nearing completion of the design phase for its proposal addressing Norwood’s flooding challenges, and the Town will soon be asked to move toward implementation of those recommendations. Norwood’s FY 2026-2030 Capital Improvement Plan includes several stormwater projects scheduled for 2027-2029. Bringing this to fruition may be impossible unless the Town adds two essential elements: a dedicated Project Manager and a single, cohesive, high-level stormwater plan. In light of this, I have prepared the following analysis.

The June 13, 1998 storm destroyed the Police and Fire Station, and the June 28, 2020 storm destroyed Norwood Hospital and caused significant damage to many other businesses and homes. These events clearly highlight the need for meaningful stormwater improvements. It is worth noting, however, that despite the catastrophic flooding at both the Police and Fire facilities and Norwood Hospital, the buildings were ultimately rebuilt on the same footprint rather than relocated to higher ground.

There have been numerous public hearings and presentations over the years addressing different pieces of the stormwater puzzle, including regulatory requirements related to MS4 compliance. The Ad Hoc Stormwater Utility Study Committee, referred to here as the Stormwater Committee, was formed in 2021, but flooding in Norwood has been studied for well over 46 years, as evidenced by the Meadow Brook Drainage Study completed in 1980 and updated in 2004 and again in 2022. Despite this long history of analysis, little action appears to have been taken beyond commissioning additional engineering studies.

All of the proposals presented to date focus on engineered solutions. I have not seen meaningful discussion of alternatives, including reforestation or restoration strategies for Hennessey Field, particularly in light of the number of trees that would need to be removed to construct a stormwater storage basin. Hennessey Field is currently heavily forested, and the proposed work would require removal of the majority of those trees. The site comprises approximately 7.55 acres of open land. With spacing of roughly 40 feet on center, it could reasonably accommodate on the order of 200 oak trees. At maturity, such a planting could be expected to draw up and release approximately 1.8 to 3.6 million gallons of water annually. That estimate applies to this site alone. Similar strategies implemented more broadly across Town-owned land could provide a meaningful cumulative stormwater benefit and should be evaluated alongside engineered solutions before major construction decisions are made.

Cost estimates have been presented inconsistently and without clear explanation of how they were derived, contributing significantly to public confusion. In its May 24, 2023 presentation, the Stormwater Committee estimated $40,452,000 in unfunded capital costs. Just two months later, at its July 13, 2023 meeting, the same committee estimated total costs of approximately $100 million over the life of the borrowings, spanning 39 years. Meanwhile, the FY 2026-2030 Capital Improvement Plan includes stormwater-related projects totaling $21,855,000. With three materially different figures presented and no clear explanation of how these investments relate to one another or how they will collectively reduce flooding town-wide, it is not surprising that residents are confused about both the cost and the purpose of the stormwater program. Many residents believe the problem may simply be clogged or undersized storm drains, catch basins, and underground drainage pipes throughout town, and hope that these investments will prevent basement and garage flooding during heavy rain events. If this is not the intended outcome, or if only specific areas are being targeted, expectations should be reset clearly and communicated widely.

This brings us back to a central problem. The Town is missing two essential elements: a dedicated Project Manager and a single, cohesive, high-level stormwater plan. The Project Manager should be responsible for championing this effort and consolidating the substantial amount of existing information into that stormwater plan and must have the skills necessary to translate complex engineering concepts and technical jargon into clear, plain language that residents can understand, while also understanding the financial aspects of the work and incorporating them into the plan. It should not be the responsibility of Town Meeting Members or residents to piece this together from a patchwork of presentations, meeting minutes, and technical reports.

The stormwater plan should present the full scope of the problem, identify the Town’s major trouble spots, explain the severity of flooding in each area, estimate the impact proposed improvements would have, rank these areas by priority, and provide realistic estimates for design, construction, and ongoing maintenance, including dredging where applicable. With these two elements in place, residents and Town Meeting would be able to clearly see what problems are being addressed, what the work will cost, when it will occur, how long it will take, and how projects will be phased.

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Providing this level of clarity would give Town Meeting something concrete to evaluate and discuss, build public understanding and trust, and allow the Town to move forward with a shared understanding of both the problem and the proposed solution.

Steve Konetchy

District 4 Town Meeting Member