Macomb County credits infrastructure projects, drain maintenance for avoiding flooding

Macomb County credits infrastructure projects, drain maintenance for avoiding flooding

Tens of millions of dollars in projects are proving their value, Macomb County Public Works Commissioner Candice Miller says

Macomb County Public Works officials are crediting the department's year-round drain maintenance efforts and major underground infrastructure projects for preventing flooding so far this week.

Even with the ground already holding a lot of stormwater, the rainfall in the last couple of days did not result in flooding or major road closures.

"It should be noted that we've done millions of dollars in drain maintenance projects - removing logjams, debris, overgrown vegetation and sediment - from many of our open channels across the county over the last nine years, and we've done tens of millions of dollars in major underground infrastructure projects to reduce combined sewer overflows into Lake St. Clair," Macomb County Public Works Commissioner Candice S. Miller said. "While no stormwater or sewage systems are designed to handle intense rain events we've all experienced with greater frequency in recent years with 3 or more inches of rain, the work we've performed in cooperation with our local communities is paying off for residents and businesses in Macomb County by reducing the risk and severity of flooding and combined sewer overflows."

For example, the Macomb County Public Works Office in 2025 used county funding and cost-sharing by several communities along the Clinton River and stepped up to remove 300 tons of logs from the river's main branch even though Public Works does not have jurisdiction there.

While some open-air drains including creeks and streams appear swollen this week as stormwater that may have inched closer to backyards and other properties that are located in floodplains, that is how the drains are designed -- to ensure proper drainage.

"We have experienced some of the same amounts of rain that other nearby counties have had. We're not saying everything is perfect, but the major drains that we're responsible for, they're running freely," Miller said. "All the other retention basins in the area had to discharge overflows. At the Chapaton basin in St. Clair Shores, we did not discharge. We want to stress that we're not perfect, but we're holding our own. We recognize our neighbors up north are experiencing much more severe conditions, and our thoughts are with them."

The Chapaton Retention Treatment Basin is located at the foot of Nine Mile Road, east of Jefferson Avenue, and handles the combined flow of stormwater and sanitary sewage from the City of Eastpointe and most of St. Clair Shores. Last August, construction was completed on a two-year, $29 million project to increase the depth and width of the canal, increasing the storage capacity of the canal from its original 3 million gallons to 17 million gallons.

Link to the interactive Macomb County Public Works rain gauges

VIDEO: Removal of a logjam in the North Branch of the Clinton River in July 2025https://youtu.be/kSjJ1ZioMxQ

PHOTOS:
The completed two-year expansion of the Chapaton Canal to increase its storage capacity has reduced combined sewer overflows into Lake St. Clair.

Logs removal from the Clinton River in Sterling Heights.

The Macomb County Public Works Office's drain maintenance team removes debris from one of the 475 drains in the county that are under the department's jurisdiction.