When It Rains, It Can Pour

After years of talking about how it will manage and pay for stormwater systems to help protect flood-prone areas, Radnor Township is marching towards action.

The township has created a Stakeholder Advisory Committee that is tasked with helping to develop a stormwater program plan and making recommendations to the Board of Commissioners.

The majority of funding for stormwater has come from the township’s General Fund, but in 2013 there was no funding budgeted for stormwater capital improvements projects.

The township is looking towards the concept of “user fees” that would spread the cost of managing water across the township, including tax-exempt entities like universities.

“The stormwater problem is solvable,” said Gale Morrison, a North Wayne resident who sits on the Stakeholder Advisory Committee.

“No one is going to say 100% solvable, in that we will never see a flooded road or yard again.  But certainly we can get to the point where we retain more water where it falls, we get more properties compliant with the current laws about impervious surface and runoff, we repair some of our old and defunct stormwater mains, we add what are called 'bioretention basins' everywhere we can,” she said.

According to a document from the township (in the pdf section of this article), the preliminary stormwater program goals are:

• Reduce the threat to public safety and local property from stormwater runoff by proactively and systematically performing maintenance, repairs, and upgrades to the stormwater infrastructure system.

• Establish a dedicated and sustainable funding mechanism for stormwater management activities to support an appropriate on-going level of stormwater service.

• Comply with regulatory requirements and protect local water resources through oversight and enforcement of stormwater regulations.

• Provide public education and awareness of stormwater related issues and goals throughout the Township.