Basement Flooding and Sewer Backup in Dearborn

Sewer and drainage

The Dearborn Department of Public Works Water and Sewerage Division, not a county agency, runs the city water and sewer service and answers sewer backups and flooding calls around the clock. (City of Dearborn, Water Services)

To report a sewer backup, a Dearborn resident calls 311 or 313-943-2150. The city sends an inspector who decides whether the city or the owner pays for the repair. (City of Dearborn, Water Services)

Dearborn built its sewers to take about three inches of rain in 24 hours. The 2014 storm dropped about 5.8 inches and the 2021 storm about 7.5 inches. (City of Dearborn, Flood Preparedness & Recovery)

A study the city commissioned found Dearborn can handle less than 3.5 inches of stormwater per rain event. The city sits far downstream in the Rouge watershed, so it cannot move water out fast enough in a severe storm. (City of Dearborn, Mayor Hammoud unveils current and future...)

The study recommends large sewer separation projects as the most cost-effective fix everywhere in the city, and the city has designed five such projects. (City of Dearborn, Mayor Hammoud unveils current and future...)

The city advises owners whose sewers flood in heavy rain to have a professional plumber install a check valve against backflow. (City of Dearborn, Flood Preparedness & Recovery)

When a Dearborn basement floods, the city sends a crew to find out whether the stoppage sits in the city main or in the owner's private line. (City of Dearborn, Water Services)

If the Dearborn sewer main tests clear, the owner must hire a licensed plumber or drain service to fix the problem. (City of Dearborn, Water Services)

Dearborn explains a Letter of Map Change as the route for an owner to leave a FEMA floodplain and drop the flood insurance requirement. Only FEMA can grant the exemption. (City of Dearborn, Flood Preparedness & Recovery)

The Dearborn flood recovery projects sit in the northeast and southeast parts of the city, which took the worst June 2021 flooding. These areas are also the city's low-and-moderate income target areas. (City of Dearborn, Flood Preparedness & Recovery)

Colson Palmer Phase 1 builds a concrete headwall with gates and dewatering pumps at the end of the stormwater line. It keeps Rouge River backwater, sediment and debris out of the line. (City of Dearborn, Flood Preparedness & Recovery)

Colson Palmer Phase 2 would clear and repair the rest of the line, restoring its full 12-foot open area so it can carry far more stormwater to the river. (City of Dearborn, Flood Preparedness & Recovery)

Dearborn's first large sewer separation project, called Notre Dame, covers 800 acres on the southwest side and raises capacity of the combined sewer system citywide. (City of Dearborn, Mayor Hammoud flood projects (2025-09-25))

Two new pumps in East Dearborn would move water to the river and protect over 12,600 homes. The same East End area is to get hundreds of new manhole covers that steer rain away from the sanitary sewer. (City of Dearborn, Mayor Hammoud flood projects (2025-09-25))

The city signed an agreement with the Army Corps of Engineers to evaluate its infrastructure, which opens a path to federal money for the sewer separation projects. (City of Dearborn, Mayor Hammoud flood projects (2025-09-25))

Dearborn sits next to southwest Detroit, where the region's main sewage treatment plant stands. Water and sewage from northern and western communities flows toward it, which makes Dearborn the end of the line. (Michigan Public, Dearborn is taking aggressive new measures...)

Sediment and debris cut the Colson Palmer line's capacity by about 50 percent. Its outfall often sits underwater in the Rouge River, so a surge pushes stormwater back toward homes. (Michigan Public, Dearborn is taking aggressive new measures...)

Flood history

Dearborn names three major flood years: 2014, 2018 and 2021. This comes from the city announcement of a FEMA hazard mitigation grant for flood projects. (City of Dearborn, FEMA grant announcement)

In the June 2021 flood, about two-thirds of Dearborn homes took sewage water into their basements. (Michigan Public, Dearborn is taking aggressive new measures...)

City officials say the 2021 storm flooded some 20,000 Dearborn homes in under 24 hours. (City of Dearborn, Mayor Hammoud unveils current and future...)

On May 1, 2019 the Lower Rouge River gauge at Dearborn crested just above 10.5 feet around noon, after 2 to 4 inches of rain in about four hours along the I-94 corridor. (NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, event 824345 (Wayne County,...)

The Rouge River runs through the middle of Dearborn, and the city grew up on both sides of it. Its Upper, Middle and Lower branches meet inside the city. (Wikipedia, Dearborn, Michigan)

FEMA mapped part of Dearborn into a flood zone, and in 2012 revalidation letters dated Feb 17 and March 20 removed some addresses from it. Listed owners are not required to buy flood insurance. (City of Dearborn, Flood Preparedness & Recovery)

After the June 2021 flood, Dearborn streets filled with waterlogged debris at the curb, and the city added extra trash pickup on Tuesdays and Thursdays and asked residents to keep cars off the street. (WXYZ Detroit, Dearborn among several Wayne County cities...)

A local state representative said a once-in-100-years flood had hit Dearborn about every four to five years, a reference to the 2014 and 2021 floods. (Michigan Public, Hammoud talks flood cleanup in Dearborn...)

• Water damage in Dearborn
• Fire and smoke damage in Dearborn
• Storm damage in Dearborn
• Basement flooding and sewer backup in Dearborn
• Sump pump failure in Dearborn