Project Information

Hitting the reset button

The Town of North Attleborough is resetting its approach to the issue of flooding from the Ten Mile River. With the extensive flooding in September 2023 and, more recently, modest flooding in January 2024, the Town has committed to work with the community and our partners to develop strategies to respond to heavy rainfall, ground saturation issues and river flooding.

Not an overnight solution

The flooding issues in North Attleborough are complex—more complex than any one solution. Past construction projects attempted to reduce the severity and frequency of the flooding but have fallen short of addressing the entirety of the issues and the changing causes of flooding in our area.

What is needed is a wholistic, methodical approach to identifying all the issues that are creating the flooding and then committing to a targeted list of projects that will, over time, build on one another to mitigate negative impacts and risks.

Where we’ve been

Flooding along the segment of the Ten Mile River in North Attleborough, between the Plainville town line and Falls Pond, has been an ongoing issue for the Town since the 1930s. A number of investigations into the cause of the flooding have been completed over the years with several alternative solutions being proposed, from repairing retaining walls and removing sediment from the riverbed to reducing stormwater runoff and optimizing storm event operations of the Falls Pond Dam. 

And as stated before, the town has invested in several construction projects in attempts to reduce the severity and frequency of the flooding along the stretch of the river. As we know, none of these efforts have entirely mitigated the flooding.

The impact of climate change

North Attleborough has begun to experience the impacts of climate change. Heavy precipitation and flooding are among the top climate hazards that create significant damage in the area, and there has been a significant increase in the intensity and frequency of precipitation over the past 50 years.

Precipitation in the Northeast has increased in all seasons, and extreme precipitation events, defined as events with the top 1% of daily precipitation accumulations, have increased by about 60% in the past 50 years. Northeast (globalchange.gov) studies have shown that the same day-long rainfall event in 2018 brought nearly 2 inches more water than a rainfall event occurring with the same frequency in 1961, according to NOAA data.

Hourly rainfall intensity—a key factor in flash floods—has increased since 1970 in 136 U.S. locations analyzed by Climate Central. 

Observed and expected rainfall amount from a 10-yr 24-hour storm event in North Attleborough:

These changes in precipitation patterns have had a direct impact on flooding and property damage along the Ten Mile River in North Attleborough.

^{Ten Mile River Watershed Flood Study map with project boundary noted in red}

Where we are now

Ten Mile River Watershed Flood Study

In 2022, the Town was awarded a FEMA Pre-Disaster Mitigation Grant to revisit the findings and recommendations of previous assessments and reports and develop an updated, long-term plan of improvements to reduce the severity and frequency of flood damage along this segment of the Ten Mile River and adapt to the changing climate.

Over the next several months, the Town and BETA, the Town’s consultant engineering firm, will be:

• Reevaluating previously developed hydrologic models to update them to current water flow conditions.
• Evaluating alternatives throughout the watershed to determine a prioritized list of short- and long-term improvements that will collectively and incrementally reduce flooding in the project area. 

Some of the alternatives evaluated under this watershed study will have been proposed in previous studies and reports and will be refined based on new watershed modelling and precipitation data that considers climate change when assessing the effectiveness of each alternative. Taking a watershed scale approach to developing flood mitigation solutions will result in a more wholistic and diverse set of interventions for the town to pursue to reduce flood risk and build resiliency to the impacts of climate change.

The project is also an opportunity to engage residents and businesses about mitigating flood risk and enhancing climate preparedness and resilience. Furthermore, recommendations may support implementation of Stormwater Control Measures (SCMs) and system(s) maintenance practices to facilitate improvements to stormwater runoff water quality, helping the town meet current and future EPA MS4 requirements and water quality goals for the Ten Mile River.

Ten Mile River Flood Mitigation Plan

While many of the properties that are vulnerable to flooding in the project area lie within the 100-year and 500-year floodplains, flooding is occurring on a much more frequent basis. Furthermore, inadequate capacity of stormwater systems and past development practices that significantly altered the natural hydrologic cycle result in areas of inundation that do not always follow mapped FEMA floodplain boundaries.

Adapting to Nature

One of the goals of the current process is to look for ways the Town can work with nature to adapt to climate change. “Nature based” projects or “green infrastructure” solutions seek to mimic natural systems in solving man-made problems. They may include projects such as building bioswales that allow rain to infiltrate into the ground to recharge drinking water, reduce flooding and keep water clean. Other nature-based projects include restoring natural flood storage areas which could reduce flood damages and improve habitat and wetland ecosystems. 

Your Role in Protecting Yourself, Your Family and Your Property

Flood Mitigation Resources

According to the Federal Emergency Management Administration, also known as FEMA, flooding remains the country’s number one disaster and can potentially affect everyone and every property.  

Homeowners, renters and business owners need to understand and navigate their flood R.I.S.K.:

R: Reduce Your Risk
I: Insure Your Risk
S: Share Information on Risk
K: Know Your Risk and Your Community's Risk

Review FEMA’s information and resources about protecting your family and property from flooding. Basic information about flood maps, flood zones, flood risk, and flood insurance can help you take action to reduce risk.

Flood Mitigation Resources for Homeowners

Resources from FEMA

Mitigation is an action to reduce the loss of life and property by lessening the impact of disasters. Mitigation can keep natural hazards, like flooding and hurricanes, from having catastrophic impacts. Review FEMA’s fact sheet with helpful information and tips about mitigation for homeowners below.

Options for Homeowners

The National Flood Insurance Program, managed by FEMA, provides insurance to help reduce the socio-economic impact of floods.

Floods can happen anywhere — just one inch of floodwater can cause up to $25,000 in damage. Most homeowners insurance does not cover flood damage. Flood insurance is a separate policy that can cover buildings, the contents in a building, or both, so it is important to protect your most important financial assets — your home, your business, your possessions.

Flood Insurance

The Office of the Flood Insurance Advocate (OFIA) advocates for the fair treatment of policyholders and property owners by:

Providing education and guidance on all aspects of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP)

Identifying trends affecting the public

Making recommendations for NFIP improvements to FEMA leadership

Flood Insurance Advocate

Resources from the Insurance Information Institute

The Insurance Information Institute is the number one online source for insurance information. The organization’s website offers a wealth of data-driven research studies, white papers, videos, articles, infographics and other resources solely dedicated to explaining insurance and enhancing knowledge.

Specifically, the Institute’s flood preparation information can assist in minimizing damage and losses from a flood.

Insurance Information Institute: In Case of a Flood

Sign Up for Emergency Notifications for the Town of North Attleborough

Sign up for emergency notifications from Everbridge for the Town of North Attleborough. Get notified by your local emergency response team in the event of emergency situations or critical community alerts, like flooding, boil water notices, missing child reports, evacuation notices and bio-terrorism alerts.

ⁱ The Applied Climate Information System (ACIS) is a joint project of the Regional Climate Centers, the National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) and the National Weather Service. Official data and data for additional locations are available from the Regional Climate Centers and NCEI.