GREAT FALLS — At the February sixth City Commission meeting, the Great Falls City Public Works Department negotiated an agreement with Water Environmental Technologies to engineer and design a new storm drain and provide construction phase services.
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The agreement was for $195,000, which will cover design and construction phase services. The city does not anticipate additional funds will be needed.
The final design will be completed in late summer, with construction to begin in the fall and completed by the end of 2024.
Currently there is a gap in storm drains, and with the city beginning to develop south, they need to prepare the parcels of land for development. This storm drain basin is one of many drain improvement projects the city is taking part in.
“There is a gap in our current system,” explained Hannah Nicholas, a Civil Engineer for the City Great Falls. “The water exits that storm drainpipe on the north end, flows overland across the middle of an undeveloped parcel that's owned by Great Falls Public Schools, then on the south end, it reenters the underground storm drain system to eventually outfall into the Missouri River.”
The new basin will keep the drainage in the area underground. The City Utilities Department says this project is necessary in order to mitigate current and future flooding in the area.
