Greenville County to use $1.5M in Federal Funds for Flood Mitigation

Greenville County to use $1.5M in Federal Funds for Flood Mitigation

Greenville County on Tuesday accepted more than $1.5 million in funding to restore two streams near Sulphur Springs Road in hopes to mitigate flooding. The $1.5 million is funded through the American Rescue Act Plan and is part of a $55 million plan through the South Carolina Office of Resilience to prevent flooding throughout the state. The funding will cover riparian buffer reclamation and repairs for eroded banks. It will also be used to turn an unused field into a storage and treatment site for runoff and stormwater.

Riparian buffers are protected areas that separate water from land nearby. Often, they use plants or trees to help filter pollutants before they reach the water. Between the two projects, native plants will be used to strengthen the banks and more than 120 trees will be planted to help reforest the area. Spokesperson Bob Mihalic said the county’s goal is to return the area to nature.

Flood Buyout Properties

The two projects are located on several “flood buyout properties” near Plano Drive and North Chastain Drive in Greenville. In the late 2000s, Greenville County instituted a program that used local government money allocated to stormwater management to purchase properties located in flood zones that couldn’t be improved. Since then, the county has purchased 183 properties and removed 214 structures from them to restore roughly 106 acres of open floodplain.

The structures from those properties may be gone, but Mihalic said these projects are the next step in the flood mitigation process. “It’s the next phase of a floodplain buyout. It makes the area go back to nature,” Mihalic said. “It helps the area be restored to what it would be like if it had never been disturbed in the first place, and in doing so, it certainly protects water quality downstream by having those buffers in place.”

100% Nature-Based Efforts

According to the project applications, the efforts will be “100% nature based.” “The stream restoration and stabilization will be designed and installed in a manner that re-establishes natural flora and leverages their resilient root systems to hold banks in place while providing nutrient uptake, shade, and habitat, and the reestablishment of riparian area will strengthen this network of vegetation,” the application read. Both projects will include new native plants and trees in areas that are currently plain green space.

Adding plants to the stream bank can help combat erosion. The Little Creek Stream Improvement and Riparian Area Reclamation project is located near the Swamp Rabbit Trail along Little Creek, which splits from the nearby Reedy River. The project accounts for more than $919,000 of the ARPA funding to re-forest six and a half acres along with the development of the storage and treatment for runoff. According to the project estimate, more than $10,000 would be allotted to tree planting and more than $29,600 would go toward placing native plants in the floodplain.

The remaining $591,500 will go to the North Chastain Stream Restoration and Riparian Area Reclamation project. The project estimate includes 100 new trees and more than $18,000 worth of native plants. The North Chastain project will be located along Langston Creek near North Franklin Road and Old Buncombe Road.

Protecting Low-Income Residents

These two projects will be the first to receive funding for riparian buffer reinforcement, Mihalic said. The reinforced buffers could help protect 14 homes and a mobile home property located near the county owned land. Both stream banks are in areas where more than 50% of residents have low incomes according to an environmental justice screening from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

According to county applications, both projects “align with the mission” of the Reedy River Water Quality Group, which is made up of more than 30 organizations dedicated to keeping the Reedy River clean. The new buffers and reinforced banks are also expected to reduce pollutants in the river by several hundred pounds.

Stormwater Infrastructure Program

The funds for this project are part of the South Carolina Office of Resilience’s Stormwater Infrastructure Program. SCOR distributes ARPA funding throughout the state. Currently, almost $50 million have been awarded to cities and counties in South Carolina for stormwater projects. Beyond the $1.5 million allotted through the stormwater infrastructure program, Greenville County plans to spend an additional $598,000 on the two projects.

Mihalic said the council’s acceptance of award is the next step in the process. Now, Greenville County can receive the funding and begin working with a third-party contractor on the projects.