Wells Run-Off Draws Flooding Concerns

A creek running through Hyattsville, Riverdale Park and University Park has some residents concerned about the possibility of flooding.

Wells Run is a narrow tributary of the Anacostia River starting underground in Hyattsville near Northwestern High School and spilling into the Northeast Branch in Riverdale Park.

Councilman Timothy Hunt (Ward 3) supports a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the involved municipalities for the establishment of the Inter-Municipal Collaborative Committee on Wells Run.

The committee would collaborate about issues surrounding Wells Run.

"Each community has a unique set of issues, and this committee can provide a framework for dialogue," Hunt said. "Storm water management is one of the major issues."

Riverdale Park and University Park have already passed an MOU similar to what is proposed in Hyattsville, said Riverdale Park Councilman Alan Thompson (Ward 2).

Hyattsville's MOU stipulates that the committee – which would be made up of three members from each community -- would advise the municipalities and develop a short-term and long-term stream restoration plan. It would also:

• Develop passive recreational enhancements along Wells Run;
• Evaluate storm water plans that may impact Wells Run; and,
• Collect and provide environmental data in support of the above items.

City Councilman David Hiles (Ward 2) said at a recent city council meeting that the council should hold off on the MOU for six months, until other more pressing matters are addressed.

But Hunt said that with the possibility of more development coming into the city – a revised plan for the Landy property near University Town Center is scheduled to be presented to the council in September – something needs to be done.

"The lack of pervious surfaces creates volume that goes into the rest of it," he said.

Hunt suggested that a type of retention pond might help. The Nine Pond existed at the head of Wells Run until the 60s, he said.

Although it has been decades since the last major flood in Riverdale Park, Thompson said the town cannot wait six months.

During the last big storm to hit the area, large chunks of concrete broke from the retaining wall of Wells Run in Riverdale Park. A photograph showed that the blocks are larger than some places along the creek and they could get wedged in, preventing water from flowing through to the Northwest Branch.

"If [the concrete] flips, it could wedge and create lots of local flooding," Thompson said.

It will be three or four years before the committee would be able to gather the money needed to form a solution, he said.

While the MOU is only in the discussion stage in Hyattsville, Riverdale Park and University Park will move forward even if Hyattsville does not join them, Thompson said.

Hunt hopes the proposal will come back before the council in September.

For more information visit http://www.hyattsville.org/archives/66/Motion%2089.05.10.pdf