Marana Stormwater Maintenance Team Targets Monsoon Flood Risks

Published on July 28, 2025

MARANA- The Town of Marana is taking extra steps to protect the community from flooding during Monsoon storms this year.

“It happens every year. But please, if you start to see Orange Grove Road fill up with water, do not drive through,” said Stormwater Supervisor Adrian Rojel.

Rojel oversees a new unit of the Public Works Department’s Streets Division. The Stormwater Maintenance Team is focused on projects aimed at preventing flooding in Marana. One of those projects was to upgrade and improve the Orange Grove Stormwater Facility Pump Station.

“The facility was actually built in about 1990. Since I’ve taken over, we have built a brand-new generator. We've given it a float-tronic system to help with the flow of water, and to let us know when there's massive storms coming or how much water is flowing in there,” said Rojel. “God forbid there’s high flow in here or something goes wrong. The red lights will kick on. So, this system actually talks to us and sends us out alerts on our phone. Night, day, weekends, I’m alerted.”

“This is one of our major concerns in Marana that we definitely keep a close eye on,” said Streets Superintendent Daniel Silva.

Silva says Monsoon storms can be unpredictable, but their team is prepared and ready for whatever mother nature brings.

“We have people on call. We have people on standby, and we have this alert system now that will definitely help us out in place.”

The Stormwater Team is responsible for maintaining 1,100 culverts in the Town of Marana along with 950 inlets, 40 dry wells and 55 acres of basins and channels along with the pump station, right of way cleanup, illegal dumping and spill response. Rojel's team is also focused on cleaning drainage channels as well as vegetation control.

Rojel recently oversaw the completion of a detention basin project in the Willow Ridge neighborhood near Cortaro Farms Road and Sandy Desert Trail. This was one of several projects aimed at reducing the risk of catastrophic flooding in Marana neighborhoods.

Rojel says as a Marana native, he is passionate about keeping his community safe, but he needs the public’s help when storms do hit.

“Just be patient. Give it time. This pump station will work. If you have any questions or want help, call the police. They'll come out here.”