Engineers Help Prevent Flooding in Colorado

September 5, 2012
By 2LT Skye Robinson, Courtesy of Colorado National Guard
Grand Junction, CO, United States

Soldiers of the Colorado Army National Guard's 947th Engineer Company (Horizontal) will be busy through mid-September helping prevent possible flooding on Colorado's Western Slope.

Members of the unit have been helping local authorities construct a stormwater detention facility located on the main stem of Leach Creek, just west of Grand Junction.

The 27-foot-high earthen embankment will prevent flooding in local neighborhoods by capturing up to 250 acre-feet of water during storms and slowly releasing it back into the environment, said officials.

The facility will also include an outlet and spillway for controlled flow.

The project is part of the National Guard's Innovative Readiness Training (IRT) program, which enhances unit training and readiness while filling a community need that is not otherwise being met.

“The Colorado National Guard is truly a community-based organization," said Air Force Major General H. Michael Edwards, adjutant general of the Colorado National Guard. "This unit has proven its capabilities in combat, but it's really the lifesaving and preventative projects in our communities that keep Soldiers in the National Guard for a career."

The project also allows for realistic training that puts the Soldiers' skills to the test, and many have a personal connection to the project.

"This particular mission is allowing us to touch on more than 50 percent of our mission-essential tasks and also make a big impact in Grand Junction," said Army First Lieutenant Eric Carlton, commander of the 947th Engineer Company. "Many of our Soldiers also reside on the Western Slope, so this is also personal to us."

The Leach Creek stormwater detention facility is on Bureau of Land Management (BLM) property. The Colorado Army National Guard is working in partnership with the city of Grand Junction, the 5-2-1 Drainage Authority and the BLM.

Past Colorado Army National Guard IRT projects include removal of tamarisks in Grand Junction; construction of a retention pond in Deer Trail, CO; work on a dam and Reservoir 1 in Fruita, CO; and a boulder removal and hauling mission north of Durango, CO.