When too much water is a bad thing: UNCW drainage systems.

I. Introduction
a. My group chose to do our project on the drainage systems affecting the UNCW campus.
i. UNCW acknowledges the drainage problems the campus faces but does not consider anything a threat unless it directly affects a class building.
ii. Most of the UNCW campus is in the “no flood risk zone,” there are four problem areas on campus: intersection of Racine and Randall- including lots G and H, southwest corner of campus, undeveloped area along the southern unnamed tributary of Bradley Creek, extended area from lot E to lot AA
b. UNCW does not have a plan to correct these troubled areas from the information I have seen, although they do acknowledge that a couple trouble areas could yield danger if significant flooding were to occur.
II. Problems that could be caused on campus due to flooding
a. Technology ruined, in crawl space or first level areas
b. Flooding on roads so that emergency vehicles cannot gain access to an area of campus
c. Inhibited access to the water tower
III. Town of Wrightsville Beach flooding systems
a. The storm water Services Annual Newsletter, April of 2008, stated that “Since 2007, the town of Wrightsville Beach has adopted a storm water ordinance, began a permitting and inspection program, initiated a water quality study with UNCW, completed a stormwater system inventory and established a stormwater system maintenance plan.”
b. According to the same newsletter, there are 650 stormwater inlets that collect storm water runoff and direct it to local waterways
c. According to the newsletter, this water travels through 10.6 miles of pipe, and is deposited at 100 different locations around town
IV. Dealing with flooding aftermath
a. New Orleans after Katrina
i. After the storm, the townspeople saw that the canals and drain systems that were in place were destined to fail because of poor building techniques (City of New Orleans Press Release)
ii. UNCW can use this information and gain knowledge on precautions to take if a heavy storm hits our area
Works Cited:
Wrightsville Beach Stormwater Services Annual Newsletter, 4/2008
City of New Orleans press release, 2/2010
UNCW Hazard Assessment, 5/2003
Thesis: UNCW has problems with flooding, how do we plan to fix them??
What can our campus, UNCW, learn from other peoples/towns mistakes, in response/preparation to flooding??