Project Timeline

1996 

  • City commits to developing Citywide Stormwater Management Plan  

1999, 2002, 2004, 2008, 2010, 2011

  • Heavy rainfall leads to significant flooding in the area
  • Presidential Disaster Declarations are issued

1999

  • City commissions an engineering study called the Drainage Basin Master Plan

2001

  • City Council adopts Drainage Basin Master Plan

2003

  • City Council forms a Citizen Advisory Committee to work on the Bee Branch Creek Alignment Study
  •  A stormwater management utility fee is established
  • The Carter Road Detention Basin is complete

2004

  • The Citizen Advisory Committee completes the Bee Branch Alignment Study
  • The committee recommends restoring the Bee Branch Creek into an open waterway
  • City Council adopts the Bee Branch Creek Restoration Project

2005

  • Environmental clearance work begins for the Bee Branch Creek Restoration Project
  • Appraisals, acquisition, and relocation of affected properties begins

2008

  • City hires a consulting team to develop the final design for the Bee Branch Creek Restoration Project

2009

  • The design team holds a series of three public workshops to gather input from citizens
  • The W. 32nd Street Detention Basin is complete

2010

  • Properties affected by the Lower Bee Branch are deconstructed and removed
  • Construction of the Lower Bee Branch begins

2011

  • Lower Bee Branch complete

2012

  • Streets and parking areas in the Historic Millwork District are converted to permeable pavement surfaces and new storm sewers are installed

2013

  • Project is awarded $98.5 million from the Iowa Flood Mitigation Board in the form of state sales tax increment financing spread over the next 20 years

2014

  • Twenty-three alleys in the Bee Branch Watershed are reconstructed into green alleys

2015

  • Construction of the Upper Bee Branch begins
  • Twenty-eight green alleys are completed

2016

  • Upper Bee Branch Creek Restoration under construction
  • Twenty-one green alleys are completed
  • HUD awards the City $31.5 million in disaster resiliency funds for the Bee Branch Healthy Homes Resiliency Program and infrastructure improvements

2017

  • Upper Bee Branch Creek complete

2021

  • Bee Branch Railroad Culverts Project estimated completion
  • 22nd St./Kaufmann Ave. Storm Sewer Capacity Improvement Project estimated completion
  • Bee Branch Healthy Homes Resiliency Program estimated completion 

2022

  • Flood Mitigation Gate Replacement Project estimated completion

2028

  • Flood Mitigation Maintenance Facility estimated completion
  • 17th St./W. Locust St. Storm Sewer Capacity Improvement Project estimated completion

2029

  • North End Storm Sewer Capacity Improvement Project estimated completion

2031

  • Water Plant Flood Protection estimated completion

2040

  • It is estimated that all 240 alleys in the Bee Branch Watershed will be converted to permeable green alleys.