The city of Apache Junction recently awarded a nearly $1.5 million contract for construction of a 12-acre retention basin at 805 S. Idaho Road at Central Arizona College that is to reduce flows in Palm Wash by 100 to 200 cubic feet per second.
The Apache Junction City Council in separate votes June 2 approved the $1,447,698.07 contract with Rummel Construction Inc. and an agreement with Pinal County Community College District to allow the city to design and construct the stormwater retention facility and be reimbursed by CAC in an amount not to exceed $1.8 million.
Palm Wash is a breakout of Weekes Wash, Public Works Director Mike Loggins said.
“We’ll go ahead and design it, construct it and get it done,” he said. “Design costs are approximately $300,000, the construction costs will be roughly $1.5 million, so CAC will reimburse the city over the next three years.”
Adding the retention basin reduces floodwater to the south by holding the water in dry wells that slowly drain it off in 36 to 48 hours, Loggins said.
“This will also reduce those downstream flows ... and the future developments that are closer to Meridian and Southern,” he said. “It reduces the flows a little bit in here, retaining some of those waters so it doesn’t flood out some of our residents in the south when we have those 100-year storms... So we’re going to be pulling water off of the Palm Wash into these ... basins and letting them settle in dry wells and then go underground so it no longer continues downstream to flood out during certain occasions ... in heavy storms.”
A 100-year storm is one that has a 100-year recurrence interval — a storm of that magnitude has a 1% chance of happening in any year, according to the website of the U.S. Geological Survey of the U.S. Department of the Interior.
Richard H. Dyer can be reached at rdyer@iniusa.org, or on X @rhdyer. Please submit comments at yourvalley.net/letters or email them to AzOpinions@iniusa.org. We are committed to publishing a wide variety of reader opinions, as long as they meet our Civility Guidelines, https://www.yourvalley.net/civility-checklist/.
Meet Richard Richard Dyer has worked at Independent Newsmedia Inc. USA since 1987, starting his career in Apache Junction as a copy editor and being promoted over the years to work as the editor of the Mesa Independent, news services editor for the East Valley office in Apache Junction, managing editor for the East Valley office, news services editor for the East Valley office and eventually also for the newspapers at INI’s then-Chandler office, managing editor again and as a news editor covering Apache Junction/Gold Canyon and Queen Creek. He helped start the Florence Independent while the news editor covering Apache Junction and Mesa news. In January 2023, he became associate managing editor for the East Valley newspapers and in August 2023 became managing editor for the East Valley newspapers of Chandler/Tempe, Gilbert, Queen Creek, Florence, Mesa and Apache Junction/Gold Canyon, while also reporting on Mesa and Apache Junction/Gold Canyon.
Community: Since 2009, he has worked as a volunteer to design The Blue Guitar Magazine, Blue Guitar Jr. magazine and Unstrung magazine, which are projects of The Arizona Consortium for the Arts; and since 2014, has been overseeing the art submissions.
Education: University of Arizona with a master of arts in journalism and a bachelor of science in agricultural communication. Also continuing education at Mesa Community College in welding in a metal art sculpture class.
Random fact: Saw his first tornado on May 31, 2010, which was classified as an EF-2, as part of a stormchasing tour group.
Hobbies: He is an artist of welded-steel sculptures, selling his artwork at juried and non-juried art shows.
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