Abington Township has a successful track record of addressing flood-related stormwater issues by making investments in floodplain restoration and stormwater control projects.  In 2003, the Township purchased dozens of homes in the floodplain by successfully matching $7M of Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) funds using $1M of Township funds . The Township converted these areas into parkland to be enjoyed by residents and has issued bonds for $3M to $4M every few years to protect property, infrastructure, and the environment from flood waters and threats to water quality. These projects, coupled with the day-to-day stormwater infrastructure operations and maintenance activities performed by Public Works and Construction Services crews, and participation in the Wissahickon Clean Water Partnership, exemplify the Township’s continuing commitment to water resource management. This work also helps address stormwater challenges from the requirements of Pennsylvania water quality regulations such as compliance with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection’s (PADEP) Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) Permit (renewed in March 2018) and the Wissahickon Creek Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) from the unfunded Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) National Pollutant Discharge Elimination Systems (NPDES) protocol. 

Due to increasingly more stringent PADEP requirements under the MS4 program, the Township leadership in early 2019 identified the need to review current stormwater system management practices, challenges, regulatory pressures, drainage system performance, and flood impacts from hurricanes as well as more routine storm events.  The study outcome is a comprehensive look at the current and future stormwater management operations and challenges for Abington Township. A request for proposals was issued and Wood Environment and Infrastructure, Inc. was awarded the contract.

The Plan is expected to be complete in late summer of 2022. 

Project Overview 

Over the past three years, the Stormwater Management Plan evolved, addressing not only the stormwater management program components but to include two neighborhood flood mitigation studies for Keswick and Huntington Valley Shopping Center drainage areas.  The study evaluated the current operational processes such as administration, customer service, engineering, conveyance operation and maintenance, flood reduction and preparedness, municipal separate storm sewer system (MS4) discharge permit activities, capital investments and cost of operations.

The Stormwater Management Plan is presented in two parts: (1) the two drainage area studies, providing information on details of the hydraulic and hydrologic modeling, alternatives evaluated, and the preferred alternative identifies by staff; and (2) the current and future operational evaluations including a 10-year cost assessment along with funding options.  A link to the Stormwater Management Plan will be provided upon completion in late summer 2022, after public review and opportunity for comment. Once finalized the plan will be available on this page. 

In addition to capital projects to mitigate the impacts of floodwaters in the community, the Township is addressing another wave of stormwater challenges from the requirements of Pennsylvania water quality regulations. Abington’s water quality challenges include compliance with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection’s (PADEP) Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) Permit (renewed in March 2018) and the Wissahickon Creek Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL). To reduce the cost burden locally, the township has been successful in obtaining grant funds important to support construction of Best Management Practices (BMPs) that target pollutant reduction in stormwater flows. However, the water quality regulations drive an expansion of the Township’s list of capital stormwater projects. Meanwhile, staff continues the day-to-day operation and maintenance of existing infrastructure to meet expectations of residents and business owners. Our strategy is to maximize funding opportunities through grants with local matching funds but the availability and competitiveness for such grants may require a change in strategy over time.

(1) Keswick and Huntington Valley Shopping Center (HVSC) Area Studies: The flood-prone areas of HVSC and the Keswick neighborhoods have experienced excessive flooding, and the recommended alternatives to mitigate these conditions could exceed $42 million with life cycle costs for operation and maintenance of the infrastructure investments of $2.6 million (over a 20-year period). These necessary investments in infrastructure and water quality protection will contribute to overall sustainability for the management of stormwater in the Township.

(2) Stormwater Management Operations: This section of the Plan focuses on stormwater operations and infrastructure management based on a series of interviews with staff and documents research on current conditions. It provides a summary of activities aligned to service areas and permit components as a snapshot in time. From this baseline, a future program that addresses the long-term investment in flood abatement and water quality protection is defined, starting with implementation of the alternatives analyzed for the HVSC and Keswick neighborhoods as well as incorporation of the various best management practices (BMPs) for pollutant load reduction mandated in the MS4 permit. Implementation of the strategies to mitigate flooding along with compliance requirements for the Township MS4 permit is the foundation for the future stormwater management services of Abington over the next decade.

Cost of Services and Funding Options

Cost Projections: One key element of any study is the financial analysis of costs, for current operations and capital needs, with a look to the future over the next 10 years.  Water quality compliance capital projects for regulatory mandates were identified in the 2017 model for BMPs to meet the sediment, nitrogen, and phosphorus targets over a 5-to-10-year implementation period. It is estimated that the total cost of $3,629,460 will be cost-shared between grants ($2,332,210) and the Township funding the residual ($1,297,250). (Average annual Township funding over 10 years is $129,725). 

In addition, other identified capital improvement needs for water quality permit compliance were estimated at $970,810 or an average annual cost during the compliance period of five (5) years at $194,162 annually. 

Township operational cost were reviewed and determined to be an estimate of $1,486,695 annually for personnel, direct expenses, and maintenance capital investments.  With the addition of the Township annual capital investments needed for water quality compliance, the total annual operational cost is estimated at $1,819,582 for the next five years. 

Funding Options:  The funding options evaluation provides an overview of the various methods available to ensure that the Township has a sustainable stormwater management program.  The options reviewed in the Stormwater Management Plan include funding methods used by other communities to fund their programs. While the Township has taken efforts to keep service cost in control and address its priorities, solutions to flood impacts and meeting water quality permit demands have placed increased pressure on funding needs. Grants are very competitive with many communities having worthy project needs. Many Pennsylvania communities have turned to stormwater utility implementation to provide a dedicated source of funds for on-going and future operating costs, capital investments, and local grant match. 

Identified funding methods:

Example Grants:

• PL117-58 has many components for grants and loans from grants for infrastructure resiliency to disaster relief funds
• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration PL 117-58 grants for inland mapping and flood mitigation
• STORM Act PL117-58 Safeguarding Tomorrow Through Ongoing Risk Mitigation grants
• FEMA Programs:
  • Flood Mitigation Assistance Program
  • Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP)
  • Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC)
• PENNVEST for funding BMPs

• February 1, 2023, 7 PM - Infrastructure Committee Meeting  
• August 2, 2022, 6:30 PM - Public Information Session: Huntingdon Valley Focus Area
• October 6, 2022, 7  PM - Infrastructure Committee Meeting
• March 2, 2022, 7 PM - Infrastructure Committee Meeting