Flood mitigation saves village from serious damage

MAZOMANIE, Wis (WMTV)---A Wisconsin village's investment 15 years ago is paying off this week as flood damage from heavy rains was prevented by well-planned flood mitigation efforts.

At the mouth of the Black Earth Creek watershed, The village of Mazomanie has always been prone to flooding.

"If you got two or three inches of rain, it would rise immediately and it would start to hop and there was always flooding in people's houses." says long-time Mazomanie resident Rodney Denu.

Nathan Timm is the Chairman of the Flood Mitigation Committee for Mazomanie. He says the village experienced three major floods within ten years prior to 2001, when they decided it was time to clean up the downed trees and truckloads of foliage that had been congesting the creek and flooding residential areas.

"We removed about 45 truckloads of trees and then every spring and fall we removed about another 15 each time for about 5 years," Timm explained. "And it got us to the point where we simply have to maintain whatever tree falls into the creek at each storm that comes through.

"This lower part of Mazomanie would of been flooded, and now we don't have to worry about it anymore. It's something of the past." said Denu.

"The people don't feel like they're living in a swamp," said Timm. "They're no longer exposed to regular flooding which has to have increased the positive attitudes of the citizenry that they're living in a place that can deal with flooding."