The City of Wichita and Sedgwick County have received approval to apply for a federal grant that will reduce flooding in the Calfskin Creek basin, a 17-square mile area of west Wichita.
The Kansas Division of Emergency Management has approved a $40 million project to go to the application stage. Wichita City Council members and Sedgwick County Commissioners approved an agreement this week to submit the grant application by the end of the year to the Federal Emergency Management Administration.
The project will construct two dry detention dams that will collect water during heavy rain events. One of the dams will be located near 13th Street North and 167th Street West, and the other will be constructed near Pawnee and 135th Street West.
Don Henry, assistant director of public works for the City of Wichita, said the dams would remove about 520 acres from a flood plain area, and concerns with extreme street flooding would be eliminated for 201 homes and seven streets that currently become impassable during heavy rainfall. He said the project would also preserve about 700 acres of land near the detention dams for ecological or recreational purposes.
The grant would fund $30 million of the project, with Wichita and Sedgwick County dividing the remaining costs. City and county officials expect to find out in the summer of 2022 if the project has been approved for the FEMA grant.
