March 12, 2015 Doug Sims, Chena River Slough Flood Hazard Mapping Project Status Update

Chena River Slough Flood Hazard Mapping Project Status Update

Doug Sims, Floodplain Administrator, Fairbanks North Star Borough

The Chena Slough is a spring fed stream channel that has been cut off from the Tanana River by the Richardson Highway and a series of post WWII era Army Corps of Engineers levee projects designed to reduce high water events in the City of Fairbanks. The slough is a principal waterway located within the rural floodplain east of Ft. Wainwright and west of the Moose Creek Flood Control Project. The slough and its surrounding floodplain is heavily influenced by groundwater and seasonal runoff. A new updated flood risk assessment for the slough has recently been initiated by the Fairbanks North Star Borough with grant funding from FEMA Region 10. The updated study will build upon previous hydrology and hydraulic information in conjunction with Lidar remote sensing in order to produce a more accurate flood risk assessment for the slough.