After a series of devastating floods in the Commonwealth, officials from the city of Salt Lick have teamed up with the U.S Army Corps of Engineers and experts from the University of Kentucky to combat flooding in their community. Among the many steps being taken, the construction of green sinks is expected to make the biggest impact on Salt Lick.
Bill Unchester, mayor of Salt Lick, said turning the many wetlands of the area into green sinks is a much more cost-efficient way of mitigating floodwaters. These green sinks are areas designed to divert and hold flood water before slowly releasing it back into the water table. It will also help anybody downstream of Salt Lick should flooding occur.
“Everybody that develops one of these things in their area helps the person downstream. Like Frenchburg in Menifee County, they’re planning on this,” said Unchester. “When they do it, it will help water not come our way. When we do it, it will help water heading down the creek to the next community.”
Along with the construction of green sinks, two flood gauges have been installed in Salt Creek. These gauges can sense when flooding will occur and have the capability to alert residents of the area hours ahead of potential flooding.
Unchester said while completely preventing floods is impossible, the city aims to greatly reduce the area affected by the high waters.
“We can lower the water at least a foot which can save people’s crops and houses,” he said. “We’ll never be able to stop all the flooding but if we can get it under control that’s going to help a whole lot.”
Unchester says about 80 acres of land have already been donated to create the green sinks. The flood alert system is currently being implemented and will eventually be operational for anybody to use.