Johnson Lane flood basin assessment underway

Work on retention basins above Johnson Lane will be funded by an $830,000 settlement with residents who sued Douglas County over flooding that occurred in the summers of 2014 and 2015.

The Sierra Front Field Office of the Bureau of Land Management is seeking public comment as part of an environmental assessment for basins located at the top of Stephanie Way and near the top of Johnson Lane.

Comments on the Johnson Lane Area Drainage Master Plan Implementation Project. Public comments will be accepted through Aug. 30.

“The proposal seeks to address regional flooding problems of the Johnson Lane community, located 6.5 miles northeast of Minden and Gardnerville,” BLM Spokeswoman Lisa Ross said.

An assessment will be prepared to determine the effects that could occur from the effort and to identify any mitigation measures that may be needed to protect resources.

“The project will provide Douglas County with access to public lands managed by the BLM through a right-of-way grant for constructing regional flood mitigation improvements (sediment basins, interceptor and conveyance channels, channel protection, and access roads) as designed and hydrologically modeled in the 2018 plan.

Flooding and sedimentation hazards in the Johnson Lane community would be controlled through construction of a series of detention basins, interceptor channels, and conveyance channels. Existing roads would be used and improved where feasible and several new access roads would need to be constructed as well. Swale features would direct sheet flow to the basins and channels.

Proposed Action details including project maps are available at: https://go.usa.gov/xFgaJ  The public is invited to submit comments to: BLM Carson City District, Attn: Gerrit Buma, 5665 Morgan Mill Road, Carson City, NV or gbuma@blm.gov.

Before including your address, phone number, e-mail address, or other personal information in a comment, be aware that information may be publicly available at any time. While you ask us in your comment to withhold personal identifying information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so. After the public review period has ended, comments will be analyzed and considered part of the decision-making process.

For more information contact Terah Malsam at 775-885-6153.