Ariz. County Supervisors Approve Flood Control Project

Arizona’s Pima County supervisors approved the construction of five detention basins to control flooding in downtown and central Tucson.

Construction bids for the $17.5 million project will go out in late spring, said Suzanne Shields, director of the county’s flood control district.

The owners of more than 200 homes and businesses will no longer need flood insurance when the project, approved by supervisors Tuesday, is completed, said Shields.

The decision, however, upset some area residents who said the project will change the old neighborhood.

“This is a good project for some, but everything that is good for somebody is bad for somebody else,” said Ted Warmbrand, who has lived for 23 years in Barrio San Antonio. “Our neighborhood is the one that’s going to get hammered.”

The newly approved project is the second phase of flood control efforts in the area.

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