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Resident urges Casper Council to commission independent Basin A detention study after stormwater modeling
Summary
A Palmer Drive resident told the council that Basin A lacks adequate detention and warned a 48-inch drain could be overwhelmed; he asked the city to hire an independent engineering firm to study Basin A to protect nearby neighborhoods from flooding.
Dave Riggers of 3005 Palmer Drive addressed the Casper City Council on Feb. 3 and urged the city to commission an independent study of stormwater detention needs in Basin A.
Riggers said his storm modeling, based on the July 3, 2009 thunderstorm (described in his remarks as a 10-year event), shows that the drainage north and south of 29th Street could receive more than 5.3 million gallons of runoff in 30 minutes and that Basin A alone would present roughly 3.4 million gallons to its drainage in the same interval. He warned that Basin A has been developed beyond 2013 projections, lacks a detention pond and drains through a single 48-inch pipe.
"If the 48 inch drain pipe is overwhelmed, the flood will go down the southern extension of Nicholas Drive, turn right onto Palmer Drive, into my front yard," Riggers said, urging the council to consider a study focused just on Basin A carried out by an independent engineering firm rather than a developer-funded analysis.
Why it matters: The speaker framed the request as a public-safety and transparency issue, asking the council to act as an independent arbiter and to reduce residents' distrust of developer-funded studies.
Council response and next steps: Councilors asked clarifying questions about study scope and cost; Riggers said he had offered to help pay and had narrowed his request to a Basin A–only study. The meeting record does not show a formal motion or budget allocation at this session; the request remains at the public-comment stage and could be referred to staff for cost estimates and scope definition.
What wasn’t resolved: No firm cost estimate, timeline, or staff assignment appeared in the meeting record. The council did not vote on commissioning a study during this meeting.
Context: The request references the city’s 2013 stormwater master plan and a staff memorandum discussed at a prior work session. The concern is whether additional development and changed land cover in Basin A increase peak runoff beyond existing infrastructure capacity.
