Overview: The Center for Sustainable Communities will be working in partnership with the Philadelphia Water Department (PWD) to develop an Act 167 Plan for the Pennypack Creek Watershed.  The CSC is uniquely positioned to assist the PWD as it recently developed hydrologic and hydraulic models for the watershed area as part of the Pennypack Creek Watershed Study and prepared new 100- and 500-year floodplains and floodway maps for the entire watershed. The CSC proposes to expand the analytical work to include the evaluation of alternative stormwater improvements to determine their effectiveness in reducing runoff and improving water quality.

Highlights of work for the Act 167 study:

- Conduct hydrologic modeling for the PCW using the updated HEC-HMS. Storm events to be modeled will include the 1-year, 2-year, 5-year, 10-year, 25-year, 50-year, and 100-year storms.

- Identify and model existing and proposed stormwater improvements in the PCW and their existing or potential impact on runoff and flood flows. Update the site inventories prepared as part of the PCW Study. Identify costs for individual improvements and assess their cost-effectiveness.

- Provide a 3D perspective to the stormwater management by creating depth maps highlighting roads and structures and their degree of inundation during different storm events.