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PANAMA -- With history of the Little Brokenstraw Creek on South Street in Panama flooding, including a separate incident involving a tree falling down last March, the village of Panama is looking to prevent future problems.
Flooding in the area dates back to at least 1985 when there was a historic flood. The Little Brokenstraw area is on a floodplain and has been monitored ever since.
"This has always been on the radar so we can continue to take care of issues when they come up," Panama Mayor Bill Schneider said. "Over time, of course, the stream has changed a bit, as streams do. It eroded and there were some exposed roots."
He added, "I've lived here 35 years and this has always been an issue."
Flooding is caused by ice jams in the creek in the early spring months, along with build up in the creek or beaver dams. A few years ago there was a large flood that hurt many Panama residents, which led to a large project with permission from the state to work to fix the problem.
David Spann, district field manager with the county Soil and Conservation District, said his office provided techincal assistance to help fix the creek bed.
"We have a long reputation of helping places to stablize creek beds," Spann said. "So the town provided the budget and asked us to help and we provided techincal assistance. It seemed to be pretty effective as well; there were a few setbacks, such as the budget and we could only go so far down river, and there are still ice jams. But I believe the water only goes into the backyards now instead of the houses."
The plan was to create a right of way in the creek and build up the east side so the water from the ice jam would continue down into a non-residential area, after it was confirmed that there would be no harm to any wildlife habitats. The flood in March had nothing to do with the project.
"This spring flood was very odd," Schneider said. "It didn't actually have anything to do with the project. A tree just happened to fall next to an abandoned, burned down house."
Panama Village Board members have discussed what could be done to help residents, and it was offered by teams who were currently doing road work that dirt left over from that could be used to build up the land next to the creek bed. Residents were asked to do it on their own land and to make sure to keep the creek cleaned out. Schneider emphasized that this is crucial to keep debris and objects out of the path of the right of way so the water will go where it's supposed to and cause less danger to homes.
"This is something that happens all over," Schneider said. "We took care of it, and it was just a weird coincidence that the tree happened to fall at this time. Of course, the project doesn't mean that the problem is 100% taken care of, because there are a lot of factors that are out of our control."
No matter what, Schneider said they are doing what they can to keep the residents safe.
"The village is helping residents work on their own land," he said. "We are continuing to monitor the creek. If we have to call in the experts again we will. The ultimate responsibility lies with the landowners, but the village helps when we can."