FLOOD09522

• County: Logan
• Community: Sterling, Atwood
• Basin: South Platte
• Title: Pawnee Creek Flood Mitigation, City of Sterling, Town of Atwood and Logan County
• Date: 7/1/1999
• Prepared For: Logan County
• Prepared By: URS Greiner Woodward Clyde
• Floodplain - Doc Type: Flood Mitigation/Flood Warning/Watershed Restoration

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SECTlONTHREE Affected Environments and Environmental Consequences

3.5 SOCIOECONOMICS

Agriculture, retail, light industry, and the service industry are the largest contributors to the local
economy. Residents of Sterling and Atwood are generally employed in Sterling or in the local
area. Sterling and Atwood had a population of 10,336 and 385, respectively, in 1990 (U.S.
Census Bureau 1990). Native Americans. blacks, Asians, and Hispanics comprise approximately
17 percent of the population in Sterling and I percent in Atwood. According to the 1990 census
figures for Sterling, the median household income was $20,189, unemployment was 4.7 percent,
and 17 percent of the population was below the poverty level. In Atwood, the median household
income was $30,700, unemployment was 7 percent, and 17 percent of the population was below
the poverty level. The median value for a house in Sterling was $40,500 and $20,893 in Atwood
(U.S. Census Bureau 1990).

On February 11, 1994, President Clinton signed Executive Order 12898 entitled "Federal
Actions to Address Environmental Justice in Minority Populations and Low-Income
Populations." The Executive Order directs federal agencies "to make environmental justice part
of its mission by identifying and addressing, as appropriate, disproportionately high and adverse
human health or environmental effects of its programs, policies, and activities on minority
populations and low-income populations in the United States..."

3.5.1 Alternative 1 . No Action

Since this alternative would not change current conditions in Sterling, Atwood, or Logan County,
it would not have a disproportional adverse impact on any citizen in the community.

If Pawnee Creek would continue to flood as it has historically, the local economies of Sterling,
Atwood, and Logan County would continue to be adversely affected. During the 1997 flood,
damages to residential structures in Sterling were estimated at $8.9 million. Damages to
commercial property were estimated at $1.3 7 million. Damages in 1997 to residential structures
in Logan County, including Atwood, were estimated at $0.87 million, $6.86 million to
agricultural land, and $1.1 million to transportation infrastructure (City of Sterling 1998).
Overall damages of the 1997 flood were estimated to be slightly more than $19 million

3.5.2 Alternative 2 . Improve Routing of Pawnee Creek Flood Flows (Proposed
Action)

Other than the conversion of agricultural land to flood control facilities as discussed in Section
3.2.2, impacts associated with this alternative are beneficial. Therefore, this alternative would
not have a disproportional adverse impact on any minority or low-income population. As
discussed in Section 3.2.2, the majority of the affected cropland would be re~ed to agricultural
use (irrigated cropland) following the construction of the floodway channel. All lands would be
purchased on a "willing" seller basis, as no land would be condemned as a result of the proposed
action. The potential for flooding would be reduced for Sterling, Atwood, and rural areas in
Logan County within the floodplain of Pawnee Creek. Based on the flooding that occurred

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