By Thane Grauel

WESTPORT — The town began its series of seven forums on addressing flooding from troublesome brooks and streams on Thursday night, zeroing in first on Indian River.

It’s not the most notorious waterway when heavy rains fall in a short period of time, but has been a historical problem for people living in the Hogan’s Lane and Hiawatha neighborhoods. Downpours have flooded yards and overtopped roads and bridges until the floodwaters trickle finally trickle away through undersized and neglected culverts.

The river starts modestly with tributaries in the general area south of County Street in Norwalk and south of Kings Highway South in Westport. More than half the watershed is over the Norwalk line, Ted Gill, a town engineer, noted at the meeting.

Flooding at higher elevations of the watershed is not as much of a problem as when all the water converges downstream in Westport.

Public Works Director Peter Ratkiewich gave a rundown of the culverts Indian River must pass through as it heads toward the Saugatuck River, the harbor and Long Island Sound beyond.

Many are on private property, some under town roads, and two of the most crucial — under the Metro-North Railroad tracks and Interstate 95 — are under state control.

He said the purpose of the seven forums, a priority of First Selectwoman Jennifer Tooker, is to provide an overview of each stream, “explain what we know about it, explain what some of the challenges are in dealing with areas, show some successes that we may have had and finally, most importantly, to hear from you, the residents, about your concerns.”

“Tonight,” Ratkiewich said, “is not necessarily about solving the problems or solutions, but rather about listening to you here, and to hear your concerns.”

“If we do know of solutions that are in the works, we will let you know,” he said.

“What we’re going to do then is go through our notes and determine the top priorities in each stream/waterway and then after we’ve gone through all the watersheds, we’ll look at the priorities within the town,” Ratkiewich said.

Several smaller culverts are privately owned; any owned by the town pass under town roads.

The two most problematic — under Interstate 95 and then the Metro-North Railroad tracks — are controlled by the state Department of Transportation.

“Really, the three culverts north of I-95 — Hogan Train, Tarone Drive and Kings Highway South — are actually fine,” Ratkiewich said. “The flooding is being caused by the culvert under I-95, because the water can’t get out.”

“The main problem on this stream is getting the I-95 culvert,” Ratkiewich said. “That’s going to be the big push.”

Conservation Director Colin Kelly mentioned that when the town came to an agreement with the developer of Summit Saugatuck, a 157-unit apartment complex brought under the state’s 8-30g affordable housing law, a stipulation was that the developer would push the state Department of Transportation to clear and culverts under the railroad tracks and maintain them.

The crowd was modest and included members of the Flood and Erosion Control Board, a Representative Town Meeting member and former RTM member, and a couple residents from the neighborhood.

Questions included tidal influence on the river’s lower end, and if dredging what used to be something of a pond just north of Saugatuck Avenue would relieve flooding. The answer was no, it’s about six inches below the river at the last culvert.

Jennifer Johnson, a former RTM member, renewed her call for the town to on the lookout for infrastructure grants, such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s BRIC grants.

Keith Wilberg, the town engineer, said officials had looked into those grants, and that they were for very specific types of projects that Westport’s issues do not appear to match. He emphasized that input about such opportunities is welcome.

Thane Grauel, executive editor, grew up in Westport and has been a journalist in Fairfield County and beyond more than three decades. Reach him at editor@westportjournal.com. Learn more about us here.