Owasso approves $74,725 engineering study of Elm Creek Basin flood risks

The Owasso City Council authorized a $74,725 engineering agreement with WSB (formerly Meshack & Associates) to analyze flooding in the Elm Creek Basin and evaluate alternatives to reduce flood risk, city staff said.

Daniel Dearberry, speaking for city engineering staff, said the action responds to repeated concerns about the Pine Valley tributary and a 2012 FEMA map revision that placed some homes in the Preston Lakes area into the regulatory floodplain. He said homeowners had provided a limited number of elevation certificates indicating their floors were above base flood elevation, but recent heavy rains produced at least one repeated flooding instance at a home in the tributary.

Dearberry said staff negotiated the study fee to $74,725 and that funding is available in the stormwater fund. The study will map current flood boundaries, produce hydrologic and hydraulic modeling, and identify alternatives for mitigation; staff estimated the study would take about nine months. Dearberry said the study could provide the basis for a later map revision request to FEMA (a Letter of Map Revision) once solutions and revised conditions are identified.

Councilors asked whether the study would focus on the tributary shown in staff slides; staff confirmed the scope is the Pine Valley tributary. Staff and council discussed how homeowners may use elevation certificates in dealings with insurance or mortgage companies but noted FEMA’s regulatory map remains in effect until formally revised. The council approved the agreement to proceed with the analysis.