Jewett City
Project Consultant: Fuss & O'Neill
Location:
This project seeks to develop forward looking adaptation strategies with implementable recommendations and specific actions to mitigate the long-term impacts of climate change on the residents of Jewett City and Griswold.
This project focuses on the western portion of Jewett City. Flooding of the Quinebaug River and Patchaug River caused inundation in Jewett City during the severe flood event of March 2010. During this flood, the Jewett City and Griswold WWTP (wastewater treatment plant) was inundated, and service was disrupted. Since then, several close calls have occurred in southeastern Connecticut, including the recent flood of September 2022.
Additional Jewett City Resources
Resilience Opportunity Area Map Portfolio
Descripción del Proyecto
Meetings & Documents
Final Report
Situation:
Adaptation options and implementation planning that are identified and carried forward to conceptual design will incorporate the Resilient Connecticut PERSISTS criteria.
Although the Town of Griswold and Borough of Jewett City have made some progress advancing a design of a flood wall to protect the wastewater treatment plant, the Town and Borough are concerned with risks elsewhere in Jewett City increasing over time. In particular, approximately 35 condominium units on South Main Street were flooded during the storm of March 2010.
Riverine floods pose an unacceptable risk to the residential housing complexes located north of South Main Street and west of Anthony Street. The new FEMA flood maps for the Quinebaug River watershed have resulted in an increase in the “base flood elevation” in this area, which has likewise expanded the width of the floodway and the Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA) (the area regulated as the 100-year floodplain), causing the 500-year floodplain to move slightly eastward as well. The number of residential units exposed, subject to regulation, and subject to flood insurance has therefore increased significantly.
The Town Hall and library are located immediately east of the areas of flood risk, but access to these facilities requires egress from areas that can flood. Additionally, the shelter/cooling center at the new Senior Center is located southeast of the Borough off Taylor Hill Road, even further from the housing at risk. These are important considerations for advancing community resilience.