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Moscow City Council adopts Paradise Creek maintenance plan to address rising flood risk
Summary
After recent record rainfall and years of high crests, council adopted a 15-segment Paradise Creek Maintenance Program Plan to guide routine inspections, sediment and vegetation management, beaver policy and phased capital work tied to a forthcoming stormwater rate study.
The Moscow City Council voted March 16 to adopt the Paradise Creek Maintenance Program Plan, a multi-decade roadmap staff said is intended to reduce emergency maintenance costs, improve flood resilience and satisfy stormwater regulatory requirements.
The plan, presented by city staffer Tyler Palmer, divides Paradise Creek into 15 management segments and lays out post-storm, monthly and annual inspection regimes, prioritized capital projects and a beaver-management policy. "Five of the six highest in history have occurred in the last 10 years," Palmer told the council, citing the USGS gauge record and arguing the pattern requires proactive maintenance rather than reactive work.
Palmer described the creek as a relatively flat, sediment-prone channel that flows 19 miles through the region and said much of the creekbank is privately owned, which will require easements and close coordination with property owners. The plan includes nonlethal beaver deterrence, pond-leveling trials, access planning and community outreach. "We're going to have to be very careful so that we don't fix one problem and create several downstream," Palmer said.
Staff estimated the program's preliminary cost at roughly $4—5 million phased over multiple years, though they cautioned estimates will be refined after initial projects. Councilmembers and staff emphasized the plan itself does not appropriate money; funding depends on an upcoming stormwater utility rate study and annual capital-budget appropriations. "This is not authorizing funds," staff reminded the council; instead, the adopted plan creates the capital roadmap that the rate study and annual budgets would fund.
Council discussion addressed homeowner coordination, public notice and likely timelines. Staff said if the council approves rates in fiscal 2027 to support the work, planning, outreach and design for the first prioritized segment would begin that year with construction targeted for FY28 or FY29. The plan also aims to improve compliance with the city's MS4/NPDES permit and strengthen grant competitiveness.
With a motion and second the council adopted the Paradise Creek Maintenance Program Plan; council members completed a roll-call affirmation. Staff said project scheduling, easement negotiations and detailed design will follow if funding is approved through the rate and annual budget process.
