Tioga County Commissioner Marc Rice knows the cost of flash flooding all too well.
Rural communities in Northcentral Pennsylvania, including in his county, were among the hardest hit areas when Tropical Storm Debby wreaked havoc across the state last year.
“Just last August, both Westfield and Liberty Townships experienced the loss of critical bridges with replacement costs soaring into the millions," Rice told a state government panel gathered in Williamsport on Wednesday.
"But perhaps the most tragic loss we've endured was the death of a beloved member of our community — a father, a husband, a dedicated community leader whose life was taken by the flood waters," Rice said, recalling one of his constituents, David Murdock of Knoxville.
“When will we see enough devastation and destruction of our rural communities that our state administration will step up and implement meaningful change in how we maintain our creeks and streams?” Rice asked.
That was the point of the meeting at Pennsylvania College of Technology in Williamsport.
State senators Gene Yaw (R-Lycoming County) and David Argall (R-Schuylkill County) hosted the Senate Majority Policy Committee meeting to discuss flood mitigation efforts around the state in the wake of damage from Debby and other storms.
Yaw said all five of the counties he represents — Bradford, Lycoming, Sullivan, Tioga and Union -- were impacted by severe flooding from Debby.
Bucknell University Watershed Sciences and Engineering professor Benjamin Hayes said the state’s Northcentral and Northern tier includes a “high rate” of steep and narrow watersheds. These areas are hazardous when downpours occur, he said.
Chuck O'Brien, emergency management coordinator for Lewis Township in Lycoming County, echoed Rice discussing the damage Trout Run experienced from Debby.
Two-thirds of relief money was exhausted on opening roads back up, O'Brien said, and the storm caused damages beyond that with flooding damage to the township building, fire department and maintenance building.
“We've summarized that U.S. Route 15 is a large contributor to the problem,” O’Brien said. “The overwhelming amount of 9 inches of rain descending on the Village of Trout Run at the bottom caused the devastation that it did. I think it is imperative that someone gets some eyes on the drainage system for U.S. 15.”
Hayes and other speakers, including Rice, recommended New York State's method of flood mitigation through stream profiling, or stream characteristic studies.
“What New York has done is they have profiled the streams, and they did it on the basis of the hydrology of the stream. Then they came up with the streams that are all coded as to what they should look like to carry the amount of water that is in that particular stream,” Yaw said. “The benefit of that is it saves engineering costs.”
State Rep. Joe Hamm (R-Lycoming County), who was also a part of the listening panel, agreed.
“There's a lot of things I don't want to be like New York State, but the one thing New York State's getting right is their routine maintenance of their streams and waterways,” he said. “Then their response after flooding events, and we've got to learn from our neighbors — they're doing it right there — and we could do that right here in Pennsylvania to make sure that we don't have this devastation time and time again and so again.”
One of the major funding sources for current stream maintenance is through the Department of Environmental Protection’s Growing Greener Program. The program funds individuals, groups and businesses with different environmental issues.
Argall was one of the original sponsors of the program as a house representative member in 1999.
But Rice said the grant money isn’t enough for every stream.
“If we look holistically across the Cowanesque River and Troops Creek, it's more than a grant funding source to clean that debris up and stabilize that channel. It is a big commitment, and it needs funding,” he said.
Bradford County Conservation District Manager Cathy Yeakel said Growing Greener helped Bradford County’s Watershed Initiative, she said. The program helped develop flood mitigation with the county’s infrastructure and erosion issues. It also helped upgrade undersized culverts and bridges.
But the grant isn’t enough, Yeakel said.
“Bradford County has over 2,000 miles of streams, and approximately 30% of those are unstable. We have rehabilitated 21.3 miles in the past 20 years ...” she said. “The work that we're doing is benefiting, but it's just not happening fast enough.”
Yaw, who leads the Chesapeake Bay Commission, called the current permitting process for flood-prone areas a “lengthy, tedious and inefficient” process.
"We have an opportunity to help local officials respond more quickly and efficiently to flood-related problems by allowing them to repair and remediate our streams. Proper stream maintenance protects our communities from flood damage,” he said.
Yaw will soonreintroduce Senate Bills 689 and 690. Both bills intend on amending the Dam Safety and Encroachment Act. Bill 689 would provide issuance of and conditions for continuous maintenance permits. Bill 690 would provide conservation district stream reconstruction emergency permit authorizations.
“Any community that has experienced the devastation caused by severe floods will tell you how important it is to plan ahead before the next storm hits,” Argall said.
“We’ve seen how effective stream management can make a world of difference in communities like Pine Grove and Tremont, who experienced devastating floods from the Swatara Creek for years until a team of conservation experts, municipal officials, local employers, and state legislators and agencies created and executed a comprehensive plan to repair the local watershed," he added.
