North Buffalo Creek has flooded in heavy rainstorms for as long as anyone can remember.

In fact, in the 1970s and ’80s, there was an organization called the Buffalo Creek Canoe Club that canoed down Buffalo Creek when it was in flood, but before the flood waters got so high that a canoe wouldn’t fit under the bridges.  However, this was not a practice endorsed by the City of Greensboro.

The Greensboro Water Resources Department is holding a meeting on Thursday, Sept. 21 from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at Color Works Meeting Space at Revolution Mills at 1000 Revolution Mills Dr. to get community input for the North Buffalo Creek Watershed Study.

The North Buffalo Creek Watershed Study is investigating the repetitive flooding issues of North Buffalo Creek and looking at opportunities for improvement.

 Three alternatives that will be presented are to increase water storage upstream, to eliminate downstream constrictors and to increase stream conveyance.

The goal of the project – which began in October 2020 but was delayed by COVID restrictions that outlawed community meetings – is to come up with some solutions to help reduce flooding. But it is recognized that it may not be possible to eliminate all flooding because of the nature of the watershed.

According to the report, the North Buffalo Creek watershed is a highly developed, urbanized area comprised of residential, public and commercial properties with a large amount of impervious surface. The presentation also notes that much of the development in the North Buffalo Creek Watershed area took place before regulations were in place requiring developers to control stormwater runoff.

The city wants to hear from people who have experienced flooding in the North Buffalo Watershed basin and is asking people to complete this survey:

https://survey123arcgis.com

The survey also allows you to attach photos of specific flooding events or damage caused by flooding in the North Buffalo Creek Watershed area.