Flood Mitigation Pond To Protect Ellicott City Has Groundbreaking

HOWARD COUNTY, MD — Local and state officials gathered Monday for the groundbreaking of the H7 Dry Flood Mitigation Pond, which is an Ellicott City Safe and Sound project considered to be crucial in protecting the city from flash flooding.

The H7 Pond will reduce the amount of water that runs off the site by more than 30 percent in a 100-year storm, keeping more water from flowing to Historic Ellicott City during a severe weather event. The project is a joint partnership between Howard County and the state of Maryland, which owns the land of the pond site. The pond will cost about $3.2 million to build and is expected to be completed within 18 months, weather permitting.

Howard County Executive Calvin Ball was joined by Gov. Larry Hogan and other state and local officials for the groundbreaking of the mitigation pond.

“Our goal since adopting the Ellicott City Safe and Sound plan is to keep our residents safe, reduce the amount of floodwater in Historic Ellicott City, and preserve the historic nature of our town,” Ball said at the groundbreaking. “The behind the scenes work has finally led to where we are today, breaking ground on the first of several upcoming flood mitigation projects.”

“With the impact of climate change, it is more important than ever to support smart waterway infrastructure improvements that protect our local towns and communities,” Hogan added. “I’m proud to say that this important project is a reflection of our administration's ongoing commitment to climate resiliency, infrastructure investment, and bipartisan, commonsense solutions.”

The H7 Pond will only fill with water during storm events. Once complete, the pond will provide 13-acre-feet of storage, about the same as 10 football fields, each covered with one foot of water.

To date, Howard County has received more than $20 million from the state for Ellicott City projects, including $2.4 million for the H7 Pond. The Ellicott City Safe and Sound plan is a combination of retention and conveyance projects to mitigate flooding.

Retention projects such as this pond are designed to hold water away from Historic Ellicott City and release it slowly once any danger has passed. Conveyance projects are designed to ensure water that is not retained is conveyed to the river as safely as possible.

Upcoming flood mitigation projects include:

• The groundbreaking of Quaker Mill Pond off Rogers Avenue, another dry flood mitigation facility in Ellicott City.
• Construction of the Maryland Avenue Culvert, pending the completion of the federal section 106 process and receiving CSX approval.
• Renovation of six county-owned buildings on Lower Main Street, including removing portions of the buildings that are over the stream channel.
• Removal of four county-owned buildings at the bottom of Main Street to facilitate construction of the Maryland Avenue Culvert.
• Commencing final design for the extended North Tunnel project.