Flood Mitigation Projects

The floods of July 2023, December 2023 and July of 2024 have spurred the Town into action to make efforts to mitigate the impacts of future floods, improve our planning to ensure we are able to notify our residents if a flood is impending, and to marshall the efforts of Town staff and community volunteers if a flood recovery effort becomes necessary.

Natural Disaster Preparedness Committee

Beginning in 2024, the newly created Natural Disaster Preparedness Committee began meeting to maximize the Town’s efforts to have a coordinated preparation and response to future floods. To date, the committee has completed a Natural Disaster Response Manual, which is available at: Plans - Waterbury, VT

In April of 2025 the Town hired its first Natural Disaster Preparedness Coordinator, whose primary role is to lead these efforts.

Randall Meadow

Since Hurricane Irene the Town has sought strategic opportunities to mitigate the impact of future floods on our residents and businesses. During the 2025 legislative session the State of Vermont heard testimony from the Town about the Randall Meadow, which is the agricultural field between Randall Street, the State Office Complex, and the Winooski River. The land is currently owned by the State, and we anticipate the land will be transferred to the Town.

In April of 2025 the Town submitted a grant application for an envisioned $4.24 million project to lower portions of the Randall Meadow. If funded, 75% of this cost ($2.568 million) would be funded by the FEMA, and the remainder ($856,000) would be funded by the Town itself.

The Town has worked with a consultant to develop preliminary estimates for the cost and scope of the project. The estimate includes lowering a portion of the land near the Winooski River, creating additional flood storage. The project entails moving roughly 100,000 yards of material to an alternative site.  

We are actively working towards securing the FEMA funding, while seeking other grant opportunities to reduce the Town’s $856,000 local share of the project cost. Preliminary hydrology modeling suggests the project could reduce floodwaters in the vicinity of Randall, Elm and South Main streets up to 1.’ 

To view a summary of this preliminary work, please click here.