Beginning this spring and continuing through the fall of 2017, the Water Resources Office will be conducting assessments of county drains and stormwater basins throughout Washtenaw County.
During this time, we may be more visible to residents or be noticed at locations that typically don’t see much activity. So in the coming months you may receive inquiries about our activity.
Our crews may be accompanied by a truck equipped to conduct video inspection of our critical pipe systems. Staff and/or contract employees will have proper identification and will be wearing high-visibility safety vests.
While we’ve collected a great deal of information over the years, we don’t have consistent, comprehensive data on every mile of our 533 county drains. Information collected will allow for more efficient response to service requests, a more strategic approach to periodic maintenance and an increased reliance on proactive maintenance to prevent costly repairs. The goal is to identify and address small problems before they become big ones, and limit or delay reactive projects that result in higher drain assessments.
This effort will also improve customer communication and allow our front office and field staff more immediate access to GIS maps, photos, condition ratings, and work activity. Our ability to quickly and accurately respond to our customer queries should be greatly enhanced.
Once the condition assessments are more complete, we’ll be better capable of identifying options and working with communities to prioritize projects in a manner consistent with their needs.
This overall effort is being funded largely by a grant from the Department of Environmental Quality, therefore, the impact to assessments will be minimal.
If you have any question or suggestions, please don’t hesitate to contact Washtenaw County Water Resource Commissioner at (734) 222-6860.