Text Box: Project Highlights: Prediction and detection criteria develop by HDR to assist with flood threat recognition and assessment. Flood hazard areas, due to depths and velocity of floodwaters, identified. Aguila Flood Response Plan (FRP) –
Flood Control District of Maricopa County
Aguila, Arizona

Text Box: Prediction and detection criteria.

 

Text Box: HDR created a plan with response actions associated with levels of preparedness.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 The Town of Aguila, Arizona has been plagued with numerous flooding events with the most recent events occurring in October 1997 and September 2000. The flooding is attributed to heavy rainfall to the north, east and south of the town that runs-off into three watercourses. These three watercourses, Centennial Wash, Aguila Farm Channel, and Grass Wash all flow into the town and contribute to the flooding within the town.

Lack of a structured government, poor communications, and lack of information in the town resulted in reactive flood response actions in the past. Some of these actions include evacuations carried out by the sheriff’s office using row boats, helicopter rescues of people stranded on top of their flooded cars, and unorganized evacuations of the towns people to the city of Wickenburg located about 26 miles to the northeast.

In 2001, the Flood Control District of Maricopa County (FCDMC) initiated a project to identify and implement both structural and non-structural flood mitigation measures to help reduce the threat to life and property due to flooding.

HDR meteorologists developed a creative FRP that relies on active local flood response actions by the Aguila Fire Department, Martori Farms, and the Aguila Elementary School coordinated with flood response actions from outside agencies. The response actions are associated with levels of preparedness, depicted in Figure 1, that are prompted by a combination of prediction and detection information.

Hydrological modeling information was used to determine flood hazard areas due to depths and velocity of floodwaters. These flood hazard areas are depicted on the graphic above and include roadways, bridges, and culverts.

The prediction component is comprised of the Flood Control District of Maricopa County’s Meteorological Services Program (MSP) and the National Weather Service (NWS) forecast office in Phoenix, Arizona. HDR developed prediction and detection criteria, which are based on information obtained by the reconstruction past heavy rainfall events that produced flooding in the town. The established criteria, as shown in Figure 2, assists the MSP and NWS to initiate predictions, prompting of preparedness levels and initiating evacuations.