Flood Mitigation Pond Plans Unveiled At Ellicott City Meeting

ELLICOTT CITY, MD — The community is encouraged to attend a public meeting Wednesday, Oct. 23, at 6:30 p.m. to learn more about plans for the construction of a flood mitigation facility (pond h-7) that is part of the county's Ellicott City Safe and Sound plan. The meeting will be held in the Columbia/Ellicott City Room at the George Howard Building, 3430 Court House Drive in Ellicott City.

“Managing storm water is a critical piece of our plan to mitigate dangerous flooding in Ellicott City. The construction of this pond, along with the other initiatives and flood mitigation projects included in our holistic Ellicott City Safe and Sound plan, all work together to keep water off our streets,” said Howard County Executive Calvin Ball in a statement. “By capturing storm water runoff, we are making progress to support the resiliency and strength of Ellicott City.”

DPW’s Bureau of Environmental Services plans to construct a pond within the northeast loop ramp of the interchange of US 29 (Columbia Pike) and US 40 (Baltimore National Pike) in Ellicott City. The objective of the new pond is to help mitigate flooding in Historic Ellicott City by capturing stormwater runoff from the upper parts of the Hudson Branch Watershed and then detaining the stormwater for longer periods to reduce the peak discharge for extreme rainfall events. Construction is expected to begin in summer 2020.

The informal meeting will include a brief overview of the project and draft construction drawings will be available for viewing. County staff and the project’s design consultant team, Century Engineering, will be on hand to answer any questions.

Those unable to attend the meeting who would like to view the plans and/or have questions should contact Avinash Dewani with the DPW’s Stormwater Management Division at 410-313-6417 or email adewani@howardcountymd.gov.