Improving a Missouri community’s resilience to recurring flood risk

For decades, flooding along Deer Creek disrupted daily life in Brentwood, Missouri. Since 1957, more than 26 significant flood events have inundated Manchester Road — a major commercial corridor — and damaged nearby properties, interrupted emergency access and placed residents and businesses at risk. Traditional flood control approaches alone couldn’t deliver the long-term outcome the community needed. Instead, the City of Brentwood pursued an integrated solution that restored the creek's natural floodplain while increasing flood storage and conveyance capacity. The project transformed more than 6,500 feet of Deer Creek through floodplain benching, retention basins, bridge improvements and green infrastructure, substantially reducing 100-year floodplain impacts while creating new opportunities for recreation, habitat restoration and community investment. 

Jacobs supported the City of Brentwood from early planning through design, permitting and construction, leading hydraulic modeling, stakeholder engagement and development of a flood mitigation strategy that balanced engineering performance with environmental and community outcomes. Rather than relying on levees and pump stations, the team restored natural floodplain function, allowing floodwaters to spread safely without negative upstream or downstream impacts. The completed project has already demonstrated its value, significantly reducing flooding on Manchester Road during multiple major storm events while enabling the creation of Brentwood Park, regional greenway connections, restored wetlands and new public amenities that strengthen both community resilience and quality of life.