Sports Bar in West Ashley, SC

Updated: Nov. 14, 2024 at 4:53 PM PST

WEST ASHLEY, S.C. (WCSC) - Homeowners living along Lake Dotterer and the Church Creek Drainage Basin may soon feel a sense of relief with the first phase of a flood reduction project.

The body of water is surrounded by several neighborhood homes, a portion of Glenn McConnell Parkway and the West Ashley Park. It serves as a popular nature stop, but also a hotspot for flood-prone events.

“During large storm events, especially if there is a high tide, that water from Church Creek, or the tide coming from under Highway 61, can come over the berm into Lake Dotterer,” Stormwater Management Director Matthew Fountain said.

The city has approved the first short-term step of a multi-phase project to reduce flooding in the area, costing $116,500. The funding is also sourced from an agreement with Charleston County amounting to $790,178.81.

Over time, Fountain expects the project to reach a multi-million-dollar price tag, but they are starting small.

“We are going to look at things like increasing the height of the dam, improving the ability to have water flow out from the dam, restricting some of that tide coming into the lake, as well as adding storage into the lake or improvements in those neighborhoods that we are draining into the lake,” Fountain said.

Nearby residents have provided photos that show water seeping up into backyards and through fence lines. Some go back to the 2015 floods, while others are as recent as a few months ago

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“We have to be smarter with growth, we have to make sure as we have properties being developed, that water can be held back,” Councilmember Kevin Shealy said. “We have some of the strongest, most strict rules as far as new construction going up along Church Creek Basin.”

Shealy hopes the project could be wrapped within two or three years. He asks homeowners to expect more crew presence in the area throughout the next few months, surveying and studying the area.

An early plan would have created pipelines under Glenn McConnell to drain water into Long Branch Creek, but crews determined it would not make strong improvements, and would create a mega-project over several years.

This new effort would separate the plan into studied portions and aim to build up long-term resiliency for the area.

“We need this remedied as quickly as we possibly can because we don’t know when the next storm is coming. We need that solution, we need that fix,” Shealy said.

The next phase, which will include the preliminary engineering work and an add-on contract, could be expected as soon as the next six months

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