Coconino County details watershed restoration and new storm infrastructure after repeated post-wildfire floods

Coconino County officials and federal partners on a virtual tour described ongoing watershed restoration and large storm-drain projects intended to reduce post-wildfire flooding in Flagstaff-area neighborhoods damaged by the Schultz and Pipeline fires.

County officials said the work combines forest and watershed restoration with traditional flood mitigation in neighborhoods and along state highways because, they argued, reducing sediment and debris from burned slopes is needed before neighborhood or highway protections can succeed.

The presentation summarized how repeated fires and subsequent heavy rain have increased flood volumes and damaged homes, outlined the engineering steps taken on national forest land and in neighborhoods, and described federal and state funding that county officials say has made the projects possible.

Speakers described decades of wildfire and flooding damage in Coconino County, including three fires that produced “devastating, severe, and repetitive post wildfire flooding,” and cited the loss of roughly 62 homes and several households still living in motels. A county presenter said, “we have spent since 2010, over $150,000,000 in post wildfire response and mitigation,” and emphasized that watershed restoration is the “game changer” because it reduces sediment transported downstream.

Alan Hayden, identified as an ecologist and project planner for Natural Channel Design, described the objectives of on-forest work: reconstructing alluvial fans and transition channels so runoff spreads…