Beware:

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Stormwater has been a large point of discussion in Johns Creek local government. DiBiase is taking the lead in the mayor’s stormwater task force alongside Councilman Dilip Tunki, and they are now deciding the group’s objectives. So far, Dibiase said he sat down with Stormwater’s Rayburn and Public Works Director Chris Haggard.

The city is constrained by time, money and technology. But DiBiase said his approach to stormwater is to “take the gloves off.”

“Let’s look at this and say, ‘If we had unlimited funds, if we can go outside our comfort zone in technology and look at some innovative ways to fix some of these problems, what can we do?’” DiBiase said.

In January, the Johns Creek Watershed Stormwater Master Plan was completed. The document, yet to be posted on the city’s website, looks for ways to improve the water quality of Johns Creek by reducing fecal coliform. The plan also outlines potential regional projects, which can take pressure off some of the waterways downstream.

The City Council approved engineering services for one project March 14 at its work session, intended to restore a tributary of Johns Creek that feeds and forms Creekside Park’s ponds. The task order is to be fully funded by Fiscal Year 2023’s Stormwater Utility budget.

But Rayburn said the project in Creekside won’t directly impact what’s been observed in Parsons Run, whose stream is a sub-watershed.

What to do

Ann Arnette, the Parsons Run Homeowners Association president said, the HOA budgets money for a five-year plan that allows for engineers to maintain the community’s public spaces like the tennis courts, clubhouse and pool.

But the association’s treasurer Chris Normand who lives next door to Dave and Stephanie Daniels, said the HOA doesn’t have the jurisdiction to fund engineering efforts on individual property.

Normand has been in the same house for 20 years. He has observed some erosion, like an uncovered ceramic pipe in the creek. The pipe was said to have been an old one, not part of an active system anymore.

But Normand said he hadn’t considered the erosion to be bad enough to do anything about it. He also said he is “lazy.”

To mitigate bank erosion, Rayburn said residents could introduce more vegetation along the stream bank, like silky dogwood that can grow in a shaded area and thrive in areas close to the water. He said their root systems should expand deep below the ground to help hold the creek bank together.

“The more vegetation you have along the bank, the better,” Rayburn said.

Rayburn also mentioned more costly reinforcement that entails constructing walls of hardened materials, like riprap, and the design must be carefully done.

Before Johns Creek was incorporated in 2006, Parsons Run resident Alexis Whitman said Fulton County provided 10 tons of riprap for free and placed it on the street. When she first began noticing the erosion 15 years ago, Alexis received a $20,000 estimate for riprap.

A caveat, though, is that impervious surfaces like riprap increase water velocity.

Residents could also add live stakes that eventually grow into trees with the riprap for a mix of natural and hardened materials, Rayburn said. The stakes cost about $3 apiece.

Alexis said she had azaleas and hydrangeas along the stream and had doubts about planting any more vegetation.

“I mean, am I gonna spend money to put something down there just to wash it away?” she asked.