‘Best days ahead’

Second flood mitigation pond project begins in Ellicott City

The Quaker Mill Flood Mitigation Pond, a critical Ellicott City Safe and Sound project, had its ribbon cutting Monday.

Maryland Comptroller Brooke Lierman, from left, state Sen. Katie Fry Hester, Howard County Executive Calvin Ball, Del. Courtney Watson, Howard County Executive Deputy Chief of Staff Brian Shepter, Maryland Secretary of the Environment Serena McIlwain, Ellicott City Partnership President Maria Martinez and Ellicott City Partnership Executive Director Jillian Joseph cut the ribbon Monday on the Quaker Mill Flood Mitigation Pond. Jeffrey F. BilL/Baltimore Sun Media photos

Howard County Executive Calvin Ball, Maryland Comptroller Brooke Lierman, Maryland Secretary of the Environment Serena McIlwain and other state and local leaders cut a ceremonial ribbon on the Quaker Mill Flood Mitigation Pond project Monday. The pond is a critical Ellicott City Safe and Sound project expected to provide nearly 3.3 million gallons of water storage. This is the second retention pond to be completed as part of the county’s flood mitigation efforts.

“It will reduce peak flow rates from the site for the 100-year storm by approximately 30%,” Ball said in a news release. “We continue to move with urgency, cooperation and resolve, to ensure that Ellicott City’s best days are ahead.”

Of the $2.8 million in project costs, $2.1 million in state funding was provided to support this project through the Maryland Department of the Environment.

The remaining $700,000 was funded by Howard County.

In October, Ball cut the ribbon on the first Safe and Sound project, the H-7 Dry Flood Mitigation Pond.

The pond, constructed on state land in a clover-leaf interchange at the intersection of Route 29 and Route 40/Baltimore National Pike in Ellicott City, has the capacity to hold 4.24 million gallons of water, restricting its flow into the Tiber River watershed and away from historic Ellicott City.

—Staff report