TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — The Pima County Regional Flood Control district is thinking about monsoon long before the first clap of thunder or downpour. You might notice crews working in the washes more in the months leading up to our rainy season.
Civil Engineering Manager Colby Fryar makes sure they are ready to take the full force of heavy storms year-after-year.
“The sides of the wash, protecting them, because if they wash out that means the property adjacent to them is in jeopardy of getting washed out,” said Fryar.
The Pima County Regional Flood Control District cleans out extra sediment and debris year-round to avoid overflow, and regularly picks up other items that do not belong there.
“We clean out a lot of trash, a lot of our projects are homeless camp cleanups and trash related to that,” said Fryar.
Crews are out even more in the months leading up to our rainy season. One new project this year will be construction of a berm about a mile east of Ina and Oracle. Fryar says it should divert debris flow into the wash and off the road in the event a major storm hits the Bighorn Fire Burn Scar Area this upcoming monsoon.
“We looked at modeling that showed this area could have the potential to flood further towards the west on Ina,” he said. “So we want to build a diversion berm here and a channel to divert that water back into the wash.”
Fryar says they always need to be ready, because you never really know how eventful monsoon will be.
“We’re just always prepared, always preparing we never know what’s going to come when it's going to come, we just need to be ready for it when it does.”
