A By the Numbers account of flood debris removal, high hazard mitigation and emergency protective measures taken after the historic floods in Boulder County. Variations of this presentation was shared with the Boulder County Commissioners and Planning Commission, and will be shared at the 2014 Colorado APA Conference.

1. Brian Graham, AICP
Transportation Department

2. By the Num6er5
Roadside Debris Collection
High Hazard Mitigation
NRCS Emergency Protection
This presentation includes results from three flood recovery programs.

3. Roadside Debris
Collection

4. Boulder County managed debris collection for Jamestown and Lyons, but stats in presentation
are for unincorporated ROW only.

5. Truckloads
From November 2013 through June 2014 we collected approximately 3,000 truckloads of flood
debris from our roadside collection program.

6. And by truckload, we mean really big truckload.

7. 14,000
12,000
10,000
8,000
6,000
4,000
2,000
0
Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May June
Tons of Debris
Debris Types ‐ Unincorporated Right of Way
Veg Sed C&D
Sediment
C&D/ Trash
Vegetative
Most materials collected were sediment, Construction & Demolition (trash) & vegetative debris.

8. Pounds
We also collected over 16K pounds of Electronic Waste (E‐waste), Household Hazardous Waste
(HHW), Tires and White Goods…

9. Refrigerators, washing machines, etc. are commonly referred to as white goods.

10. Tons
From the roadside debris collection program we collected over 25 tons of material.

11. Pounds
Converted to pounds‐‐ we collected over 50 million pounds of flood debris from our roadsides.

12. High Hazard
Mitigation
High Hazard Mitigation refers largely to debris removal from creeks

13. Our creeks and culverts were filled with debris, causing a threat of additional flooding during
spring runoff. Here, Tim Zych from our Parks and Open Space Department is dwarfed by a
woody debris pile in the Little Thompson Creek in northern Boulder County.

14. Many homes were also destroyed by the flood. (Riverside Dr./ Middle St. Vrain Creek)

15. (Apple Valley Rd./ North St. Vrain Creek)

16. Houses
9 houses were removed through FEMA and NRCS programs that were either in the creek
or nearly falling in.

17. Truckloads
Over 43K tons of debris were removed from our creeks via approximately 3,000 truckloads,
not including debris removal conducted by local fire districts on our behalf through a
grant program and IGAs.

18. Woody debris pile blocking a culvert near the 6 mile marker of Left Hand Creek.

19. Culverts shown after debris removal restored conveyance.

20. Signed ROEs
Our high hazard mitigation work was unique because it required permission from private
property owners to conduct work. While over 900 property owners signed Right of Entry
documents, the precise number of properties high hazard threats were mitigated is unknown.

21. Goal
Our goal was to complete our high hazard work by May 1st, reducing the threat of additional
flooding brought on by spring runoff.

22. Complete
As compared to the total volume of material removed at project completion,
77% was removed by May 1st.

23. 35,000
30,000
25,000
20,000
15,000
10,000
5,000
0
Left Hand Creek
March April May June
Tons of Debris
Debris Removal – By Creek
Fourmile James Left Hand Little T North St. Vrain St. Vrain
A the bulk of our work occurred in Left Hand Creek, with significant work in James Creek, the St. Vrain Creek
on POS property and also the Little Thompson Creek, which mostly happened after May 1st. We
deemphasized Little Thompson Creek because it presented less of a spring runoff threat.

24. Complete
Excluding Little Thompson Creek, over 90% of work was completed by May 1st.

25. Pages
Following the requirements for FEMA reimbursement requires a lot of documentation. This is
the number of pages in our most recent Leidos debris monitoring invoice.

26. Emergency Watershed Protection
The Natural Resource Conservation Services’ Emergency Watershed Protection Program intent,
applicable to Boulder County projects, was to stabilize creek banks, preventing further damage
to private homes.

27. Properties
We’ve completed (or nearly completed) 10 EWP projects, directly mitigating the risks to
54 properties.

28. Streamcrest
Apple Valley
Wallstreet/ Salina
Raymond/ Riverside
Longmont Dam Road
The five main areas of work (above) , consisting largely of bank stabilization, or in the case of
Streamcrest‐ creek realignment.

29. NRCS funded work in‐progress along Longmont Dam Road/ North St. Vrain Creek.

30. Bank stabilization work on upper Left Hand Creek.

31. The view from Streamcrest as debris removal work was getting started.

32. Streamcrest near completion:
a new channel had been cut, with a flood bench to accommodate a 25‐yr storm.

33. Demonstrating the depth of sediment deposited in Streamcrest… the top of the camper shell
was barely visible at the commencement of the project.

34. All of the excavated material was temporarily staged on the back side of the Greenbriar Inn’s
property. I called this Mount Streamcrest.

35. Truckloads
In total, about 1,800 truckloads of this sediment was hauled from Streamcrest to the West Pond
at Kenosha Open Space property to help fulfill obligations of a pending water rights decision.

36. A photo from Kenosha Open Space of the partially filled West Pond.

37. Savings
The collaboration with Parks and Open space on the disposal of this flood debris saved the
county over one‐half million dollars!

39. Thanks to our work, we made a lot of fans. Our construction manager on the Streamcrest and
Riverside NRCS projects was delivered cookies every week.

40. Truckloads
In cleaning up our roadsides and creeks we hauled away almost 8,000 truckloads of debris.

41. This aerial photo of our Debris Management Site (DMS) near 28th and Jay Road represents about
8% of the total amount of material collected, by weight.

42. The DMS was a staging yard for woody debris. To meet our object of keeping material out of
landfills, & to comply with the Emerald Ash Borer quarantine, woody debris was ground‐up here.

43. Cubic Yards
In total, nearly 50K CY of collected material is in the process of being ground‐up and will be composted or
otherwise put to a higher use.

44. 117 Boulder County residents took advantage of a July Mulch Give‐Away hosted by Resource Conservation.

45. Diverted
As compared to the weight of material we removed in total, 42% was kept out of a landfill. This
included sediment that was repurposed, woody debris that is being ground and composted
and HHW and E‐waste that was recycled.

46. Assessments/ Scoping
Project Management
Purchasing/ Contracting
Public Relations
Engineering/ Permitting
Debris Removal
FEMA Monitoring
NRCS Construction
Construction Mgmt.
Close-out/ Reimbursement
These projects were a massive undertaking, from scoping the work to be completed through
surveys and assessments all the way through closing out projects and seeking reimbursement.
This work was not inexpensive…

47. Expenditures
To close‐out these projects we will have spent over $10M on project consultants and
engineering, construction management and monitoring, contracts (including materials and
equipment), tipping fees, and payroll, etc.

48. By the Num6er5
THANK YOU
Brian Graham, AICP
Transportation Department
720‐564‐2667
bgraham@bouldercounty.org