"Money well spent": Flooding is no longer a major issue in Roseville following years of mitigation efforts
ROSEVILLE -- Flooding is no longer a major issue in Roseville despite more than half a dozen creeks that run through town. City leaders say aggressive flood mitigation efforts have prevented flooding throughout the city for years.
The creek near Saugstad Park was moving swiftly Monday. The bike trail running parallel to it was closed. Other trails around town were closed Monday due to high creek levels.
However, a $32 million investment by the city in flood mitigation projects has David Miller, a longtime Roseville resident, feeling a lot more comfortable.
"It was money well spent," Miller said.
Miller lives less than 50 yards from Linda Creek. He was there for two historic floods 1986 and 1995.
"It never got into my house but it got halfway up my driveway and it was running through my front yard," Miller said.
In the years following the flood in 1986, the city got to work spending millions of dollars enlarging, adding and replacing old culverts, along with widening stream channels.
The city also helped raise some homes while tearing down others to get them out of the flood plains. But it's the levees and floodwalls Miller says made the most difference.
"That was one of the better things, was to put those walls up," Miller said.
Helen Dyda, a spokesperson for the city of Roseville, says the city's work has earned them the nation's top flood control rating through FEMA.
"That's one thing we hear from our residents is that they're grateful for the effort and investments that we have made for public safety," Dyda said.
