East Pennsboro Watershed Assessment
CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PA — Ecosystem Planning and Restoration (EPR) was contracted by the East Pennsboro Township Authority to conduct rapid stream assessments of 10 separate stream systems within the Township jurisdiction. The purpose of this comprehensive assessment was to identify restoration sites that would fulfill the Township’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) General Permit for Stormwater Discharges from Small Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems (MS4) permit stream sediment load reduction requirements.
The goals for the rapid assessment were to:
- Determine existing stream stability and sediment supply potential for each stream reach
- Rank these in order of greatest need of restoration
A total of 64 reaches along over 10 miles of stream channel were assessed, including: Arboretum Run, Enola Run, Enola Run tributary, Holtz Run, three tributaries to Holtz Run, Boyer Run, University Run, and Unnamed Tributary to Susquehanna River.
The assessment, data collection, and analysis, including two levels of prioritization ranking, resulted with three (3) recommended project areas. Estimated load reductions, ownership (public/private), construction access, and ballpark design and construction estimates were provided as part of the recommendations. Additionally, an interactive GIS layer (and kmz file) displaying the location and data of the assessed stream reaches and identifying the recommended project areas accompanied the technical memo summarizing the efforts and results submitted to the Township.
EPR followed up this deliverable with conducting a field walk of the recommended project areas with representatives of the East Pennsboro Township. Materials provided at this meeting included one page project profiles recapping the site-specific assessment results and anticipated efforts, considerations, reductions, and costs.
