There are plenty of worthy flood projects, but never enough money

New Berlin - With its limited budget, the New Berlin Stormwater Utility has trouble keeping up with water-related complaints.

By the latest count, the city received 3,084 such complaints in 2010 for everything from yard or basement flooding to erosion, said Nicole Hewitt, city stormwater management engineer.

Because stormwater utility fees to homeowners and businesses are relatively low, the utility can only borrow $500,000 a year. And even that has to stop soon so that the fees can pay off what it has already borrowed.

So, the utility won't be able to do any major projects after 2014 so that the fees can pay down the debt on previous projects, Hewitt said. Homeowners contribute $60 per year toward the stormwater utility, which is charged with straightening out drainage and flooding problems that sometimes have devastating consequences to homeowners. Businesses pay more.

However, smaller projects will continue to be done because the Common Council funds them separately out of its capital budget. Each year the council has set aside $100,000 for drainage projects, with which the utility did more than 90 projects in 2010 and even more last year, Hewitt said.

The capital funding makes it possible for the utility to come to the aid of property owners with relatively serious flooding almost immediately.

But the backlog is two years for those whose flooding isn't that serious, Hewitt said. Those with drainage complaints that don't involve flooding can wait up to five years for help, Hewitt said.

Often the water problems are not the homeowners' fault. Development in other areas increases runoff that sometimes winds up flooding New Berlin basements and yards.

In fact, the often-severe flooding on parts of Meadow Lane and 124th Street might have resulted from the reconstruction of Greenfield Avenue and the construction of a shopping area in Brookfield, Hewitt said.

A study should get under way this year that could show that, she said.