On Friday, May 4, 2018 the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) recognized the City of San Diego Chollas Creek Watershed Project with an “Outstanding Flood Management Project Award”. HELIX is honored to have assisted in the preparation of the award-winning master plan for the City of San Diego Transportation and Storm Water Department alongside an excellent team with RICK Engineering Company and Tetra Tech.

In a highly urbanized area within the City of San Diego, failing infrastructure and polluted waterways have triggered the need for a comprehensive assessment of drainage improvements, water quality best management practices, and stream restoration/mitigation. These deficiencies precipitated the development of the Chollas Creek Watershed Master Plan by the City of San Diego with the goal of addressing these needs through the implementation of a multi-disciplinary team approach on a watershed scale (21 square miles). The primary objective of the watershed master plan was to identify project-specific improvements from highly detailed modeling results, prioritized based on finely tuned prioritization matrices. Central to this effort was the collection and processing of high-resolution geospatial data to enable large-scale analysis of drainage patterns, water quality, and stream restoration/mitigation opportunities, with high levels of accuracy, throughout the study area. Through this process, flood control, water quality, and stream restoration/mitigation improvements were able to be identified throughout the watershed. These improvements were prioritized using a set of criteria that can be used Citywide regardless of the individual watershed characteristics and incorporate the synergy between flood control, water quality improvement, and environmental mitigation. From this information, prioritized recommendations were proposed with the aim of alleviating the stress on deficient drainage infrastructure, ensuring TMDL compliance with storm water quality regulations, and meeting the City’s mitigation needs, all while realizing significant cost-savings through an “integrated” multi-benefitapproach.

Congratulations to the City of San Diego, RICK Engineering Company, and Tetra Tech for this award-winning project!