A long-planned flood mitigation project in Boulder will be delayed pending the outcome of a vote scheduled for this coming November.
Members of the Boulder City Council have given their unanimous approval to putting on the ballot a referendum that would cancel out an earlier city approved annexation agreement.
That agreement was designed to pave the way for work to begin on the project at a nearly 310-acre site that is owned by the University of Colorado at Boulder.
Opponents of the project have said that they are concerned about its environmental impact, and that the planning process for it has been incomplete and hastily undertaken.
The proposed $47 million South Boulder Creek flood mitigation project would entail the construction of a dam, flood wall, detention area, and earthen embankment.
As envisioned, the project will protect Boulder from flood waters rising out of the South Boulder Creek drainageway. Sources have indicated that at least 3,500 residents and some 600 structures are located within the floodplain of the creek.
By Garry Boulard
