Mossy Oaks STORMWATER DRAINAGE PROJECT

Background

The Mossy Oaks neighborhood in the City of Beaufort is one of the most vulnerable to repeated flooding. In 2017, the Multijurisdictional Mossy Oaks Drainage Task Force was formed to address this issue. The area, comprising approximately 550 acres and several hundred homes, floods following heavy rains, high tides, and storm surges. An engineering study identified factors such as inefficient drainage structures and poor drainage patterns. Other complicating issues included homes built on slabs, along with ditches overgrown with vegetation.

The City of Beaufort obtained two grants totaling $1.5 million to help fund the project.

The engineering study, completed in the summer of 2018, divided the project area into Basin 1 (north side of neighborhood) and Basin 2 (south side) where water collected repeatedly due to misaligned drainage pipe elevations. Roughly 30 areas where drainage is poor have been identified and all locations will be improved.

In 2019, workers cleared out and graded the Jane Way Ditch in Basin 1, which was overgrown with vegetation and used for dumping. In the summer of 2020, the next phase of the project is expected to begin.

The construction phase of the Mossy Oaks projects began in July 2020 and was completed in April 2021.

Below: Mayor Stephen Murray, State Rep. Shannon Erickson, Mayor Pro Tem Mike McFee, and City Councilmen Phil Cromer, Neil Lipsitz and Mitch Mitchell celebrate the completion of the project with a ribbon cutting on the Spanish Moss Trail on May 6, 2021. Task Force Chairman Neal Pugliese does the honors.