The municipalities in southwestern Butler County have a long history of flooding, but it’s gotten worse in recent years due, in part, to record rainfalls. The county commissioners brought 10 municipalities together to collaborate on a solution and asked us to help. We worked with the county to revise the release rates in its Act 167 Plan and worked with the municipalities to update their stormwater management ordinances. We also identified 32 construction projects that would reduce flood risk and provided funding strategies to implement these projects. In less than two years, we have helped the group obtain $2.5 million to fund eight of these projects.
Cooperation has many well-known benefits, but it can be challenging on this scale. The municipalities varied in density and development potential. Some are already built out; others anticipate significant growth, which could be hampered by more stringent regulation of stormwater. We worked with project partners to create a plan that accommodated everyone’s varying needs and budgets. As a result, 9 of the original 10 participants has signed a cost-share agreement to implement the recommended improvements.
Our scope of services included:
- Watershed modeling and analysis
- Interviews with each community about local flood issues
- On-site investigations
- Planning-level cost estimates for 32 recommended improvements
- Design and permitting for eight recommended projects
- Grant application assistance and broader funding strategies
- Collaboration with other municipal staff and their engineers to complement their skills with specialized expertise and support
