Little Tobacco Intercounty Drain

The Little Tobacco River Intercounty Drain begins in Grant Township in Clare County and travels nearly 2.83 miles southwest through the historic downtown in the City of Clare, crossing beneath 13 bridges. It was established in 1897 and services approximately 7,007 acres. Flooding within the City of Clare was a historic and proven threat and a hydraulics study completed by Spicer Group determined the bridges and drain were inadequate to support the 100-year storm floodplain.

The Little Tobacco River Intercounty Drainage Board pursued funding through the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Pre-Disaster Mitigation Grant program to create a necessary floodplain for the drain. This allowed them to purchase property surrounding the drain from owners at a fair market value to then remove the structures from the special flood hazard area, creating an open greenspace and floodplain.

Spicer Group, along with Gordy Frasier and Associates, Wade Trim, and Fahey Shultz Burzych Rhodes, assisted the Little Tobacco River Intercounty Drain Drainage Board with managing the improvement project, designing the replacement bridges, designing the drain improvements, applying for the grant, administering the grant, construction the improved drain, demolishing the buildings within the floodplain, and constructing the greenspace and floodplain shelf.