CITY OF REPUBLIC
Stormwater Planning and Improvements

Varela client since 2000

The city’s challenges
An old gold-mining town 120 miles northwest of Spokane, Republic faced repeated flooding of both public and private property throughout the city – due to an inadequate, undersized, and at times non-existent storm drainage system. The city spent an excessive amount of money annually just to maintain the system; with planned water system improvements, downtown street upgrades, and a central business district facelift, it was essential that they address the entire storm drain system to ensure that ongoing storm drainage problems were not made a permanent part of other costly infrastructure improvements.

How we helped
Varela helped bring an end to the city’s flooding problems by providing a systematic plan to enable the city to select the most cost-effective and long term solution. This in turn allowed the city to proceed with the steps to fund and construct the highest priority first phase of improvements. We provided:

• comprehensive evaluation and planning of watersheds, drainage basins, and the overall stormwater system
• funding plan and procurement of improvements funding
• strategic integration with the city’s comprehensive infrastructure improvements
• design and construction management of multi-phase project

What the city accomplished
Significant drainage system improvements were accomplished in conjunction with improvements to other city infrastructure systems, which maximized cost economies. The Leo Gaffney Drive storm drain system project addressed the major problems this basin had experienced for many years. This project consisted of:

• collection and transport of stormwater from a 500 acre basin
• 1,100 feet of new roadside channels and 1,000 feet of up to 24" storm pipe
• retention pond, earthen dam, inlet structure, and overflow
• other storm drain pipeline upgrades