Following heavy rains, while expressing concerns about neighborhood flooding in a recent showing of Local This Week, panelists seemed unaware of the annual $40M City of Memphis stormwater management program.

Of the $40M per year, $46M has been spent on external contracts since 2019, mostly known as the Memphis Stormwater Quality and Quantity (MSQ2) program. The overall City of Memphis FY26 stormwater budget is scheduled to increase by 18% from $39M in FY25 to $46M in FY26.

The Memphis public too is unaware of the program even though $247K has been spent on stormwater awareness external contracts. In this way, there are no public expectations of a $40M annual City of Memphis program for reducing neighborhood flooding. I have been watching the City Council obscurely plow public money into external stormwater management contracts for years, while not seeing any neighborhood flooding relief.

The last update on the program was in May of 2024. The update was provided by Michael Hooks, Jr’s AllWorld representative Dwan Gilliom. Since 2019, AllWorld has racked up $31M in stromwater management contracts. 

With no relief from flooding in recent years, local officials often blame taxpayers when flooding occurs for not keeping public drains clear, as opposed to monitoring the progress of the $40M annual stormwater management program. On the other hand, its not clear that clearing drains is the taxpayer’s responsibility given this City of Memphis policy statement.

Either way, public education and Public Works public service announcements (PSA), which should cost nothing, could help improve drainage with just a PSA prior to heavy rains. Since there have been no PSA’s, prior to heavy rain events, Public Works PSAs is proudly my idea and not the Mayor’s or the Council’s. Without delivered stormwater education, public ignorance persists, even though $247K has been spent on stormwater awareness.

But again, there are no public expectations of the $40M per year program that is slated to grow by 18% in FY26 to $46M from $39M. The following will examine past storm water management City Council testimony, with supporting public data, to help set public expectations and standards around the $40M+ annual program.

On May 7, 2024, AllWorld’s Dwan Gilliom provided City Council testimony on the stormwater management program. Gilliom referenced preventing neighborhood flooding stemming from 10yr heavy rain events. The City of Memphis Public Works Director, at the time, Robert Knecht, referenced a 25yr event standard. So, it’s not clear what the standard is. And what is a 10yr and 25yr rain event? Without data, no one really knows.

To that extent, we will consult the public data to define a 10yr and 25yr 2-day rain event. Why 2 days? As of the recent storm, 2 days was when I began questioning the value of the stormwater management program, when the University district was flooding. I wondered did the stormwater management program forget the University district?

Secondly, as far as the days after day 2, flash flooding would have occurred with an optimized stormwater management program, given record rain totals. So given these parameters, in language the public understands, what is a 2-day 10yr and 25yr rain event?

Based on data from MemphisWeather.net, a 10yr 2-day rain event would be 7.96 inches. The former occurred on March 9-10, 2016. Another 2-day rain event of 7.09 inches occurred on June 28-29, 2014, which would have occurred within the10yrs prior to Gilliom’s testimony.

The most recent rain event of 6.9 inches, on April 2-3, 2025, would have ranked 3^rd had it occurred in the 10yr span prior to Gilliom’s testimony. As far as a 25 yr 2-day event, 8.34 inches of rain fell on November 28-29, 2001. So, the recent greatest 2-day rain event would have ranked 3 of 3 over the last 10yrs and 5 of 5 over the last 25 yrs.

With no improvement in neighborhood flooding, since 2019 and through MSQ2, public concerns are valid. Taxpayers fund the stormwater management program with a City of Memphis $6.03 monthly MLGW billed fee.

The May 7, 2024, MSQ2 AllWorld presentation generates a significant number of questions, that if answered on the record, could help taxpayers set expectations for a $40M+ annual stormwater management budget, where MSQ2 resides as a component. Here are some questions:

  Specifically, what 2-day rainfall amounts, in inches, constitute a 10 and 25yr rainfall event? (This was established above through research at 7.96 and 8.34 inches for 10yr and 25yr respectively, but not on the public record by MSQ2 vendors)

  Can a listing of the 350 identified stormwater projects be published?

  Can a list of the 49 approved projects be published as well as projects approved since May 7, 2024?

  Can a listing of the 8 completed constructed projects and those completed since May 7, 2024, be published with associated costs?

  How much did it cost to address the 3x3 inlet cover at 2686 Alcy Avenue?

  Can an exhaustive listing of how the $46M in external contracts has been spent, since 2019, by project, vendor, and amount, be published for taxpayer benefit?

With the above answers, the public can develop expectations for $40M annual City of Memphis stormwater management program.