BOROUGH GETS LOOK AT IMPACT OF STORMWATER
Videos show creek flow during heavy rains
LANSDALE >> A series of videos of Whites Road Park have shown Lansdale officials just how serious the problem of stormwater runoff can be.
Lansdale’s Manager of Code Enforcement & Community Development Chris Kunkel gave borough council on Oct. 17 a demonstration of why they should take stormwater runoff issues seriously, showing what appeared to be a raging river running through the park.
“Look at what’s happening with the water, look at how brown it is. You’re seeing a lot of sediment in that water, a lot of erosion,” Kunkel said.
As he spoke during the Oct. 17 council meeting, Kunkel showed videos of the creek running through Whites Road Park on a normal day, with clear, shallow water only occasionally disturbed by a breeze. Then, during a rainstorm, a brown torrent of water and dirt gushed down the same direction, pushing away everything in its path, including boulders lining the creek bed.
“That water flow pushed those boulders into the creek. That’s how extreme the flow was. This is the downstream side, under high flow conditions — it’s like a fire hose, blasting through that creek,” Kunkel said.
For several years now, borough council and staff have discussed how to meet ever stricter stormwater management requirements from the state and federal governments,
“What’s happening to the creek in these events? You’re basically taking a fire hose to the creek, which is flushing out everything living that’s in that creek. And that happens over and over again. The life comes back to that creek, then another storm happens, and it gets washed out.”
— Lansdale’s Manager of Code Enforcement & Community Development Chris Kunkel
and what projects can be done locally to reduce runoff. Last summer, borough officials heard from their stormwater engineering consultant that revisions to their pollutant reduction plan could cut an early estimate of roughly $5 million in projects needed by roughly half — and recent heavy rains have shown the need for those projects.
“Certain events like this one, you could have trees that get destroyed, because the root base gets so softened,” he said.
“What’s happening to the creek in these events? You’re basically taking a fire hose to the creek, which is flushing out everything living that’s in that creek,” he said.
“And that happens over and over again. The life comes back to that creek, then another storm happens, and it gets washed out,” Kunkel said.
Parts of Lansdale fall within the Wissahickon Creek, Neshaminy Creek, and Skippack Creek watersheds, and the borough is part of a regional effort led by the Wissahickon Valley Watershed Authority to develop an overall master plan to make stormwater-related improvements. Council voted unanimously on Oct. 17 to extend their participation in the Wissahickon Creek clean water partnership for two more years, and Kunkel, who acts as secretary for that regional group, said his presentation was meant to show how heavy rains in Lansdale could have an impact not only in that town, but throughout the watershed area.
“Every piece of trash, drop of oil, water bottle, straw, cigarette butt, whatever was up in the west ward, and through Green Street, just got flushed into that creek, and sent all the way down into the Delaware River,” Kunkel said.
Staff have continued to meet and discuss with state and federal officials on how to meet the stormwater requirements, and Kunkel said talks will continue as the borough discusses its 2019 budget. Projects can be planned to help absorb runoff near the creeks, but stabilizing the stream beds alone may not be enough.
“You can see, from that amount of flow, that that’s not going to be really successful. We’ve got to prevent the flow from ever getting to the creek in the first place,” he said.
Lansdale’s borough council next meets at 9 p.m. on Nov. 7, with various council committees starting at 7 p.m., all at the borough municipal building, 1 Vine St. For more in formation or meeting agendas and materials visit www.Lansdale.org or follow @LansdalePA on Twitter.