North Wales OKs Wissahickon Creek Consortium Agreement

Dan Sokil | The Reporter•

Site of the Wissahickon headwaters restoration project in Upper Gwynedd, where a streambank restoration and naturalization project was completed in 20

A regional water quality partnership is ready to start planning projects, and North Wales has officially signed on.

Borough officials heard an update last week on a regional partnership meant to keep the Wissahickon Creek clean.

"This partnership is the best way to collaborate across our municipal boundaries, and address water quality, and keep this creek clean for happy, healthy communities for generations to come,” said Erin Landis, water programs manager for Wissahickon Trails.

In 2015, the state’s Department of Environmental Protection and the federal Environmental Protection Agency issued a new requirement for a total maximum daily load (TMDL) of phosphorous that had to be removed from the watershed, which consists of 13 municipalities and four wastewater treatment plants, running from Montgomery Township south to Philadelphia.

"Essentially, the EPA does a study: they look at how much phosphorus is in the creek and being input into the creek; they look at how much phosphorous should be in the creek, to support a healthy waterway. And the difference is then divided among the communities that input phosphorous into our waterways,” Landis said.

"And then, those communities are responsible for reducing the phosphorous input by a specific amount,” she said.

Why a Regional Plan?

Ongoing talks between the regulators and the towns led to an agreement in 2016 that the townships, boroughs, and wastewater plants all agree to work together to develop a joint plan, and data collection in the watershed began in 2017; ongoing extensions have kept the talks continuing since then, as they’ve worked to identify the least costly ways to meet those requirements, Landis told council.

"The beauty is, it puts a lot more control in the municipalities’ hands, to figure out how to improve water quality with an approach that works for them,” Landis said.

A draft water quality improvement plan has been written, submitted to EPA and DEP for input, they’ve sent revisions back, and the group is now working to revise and update that plan for a second submission.

Drew Shaw, environmental planning manager for the Montgomery County Planning Commission, said the municipalities have all signed on to an intermunicipal agreement, begun data collection developed a list of over 100 possible projects, and secured $1.5 million in grant funding to start.

"North Wales has been with us from the very start — I think Christine hasn’t missed a single meeting,” Shaw said, thanking borough manager Christine Hart for her input.

Because of the requirements needed for certain grant funding, the management committee of the regional effort has recommended that all of the municipalities sign on to a formal consortium agreement, creating a legal entity that can apply for funding, while leaving any larger actions such as authorizing projects up to the municipalities.

"That will involve applying for grants, accepting grants, entering into contracts and so forth. We need a structure that enables us to do that, and that’s what the consortium is,” he said.

Shaw said the implementation period is currently set at 20 years, broken up into four five-year periods, but the effort could end sooner.

"It’s based on the index of biological integrity in the creek, and we look at what kind of bugs are in the creek. As soon as you satisfy them, with a healthy creek — we’re done,” Shaw said.

Landis said education and policy support will also be key parts of implementing the plan .

"A huge part of that is engagement and education of the public, so I think our creek watcher program fits in with that,” she said.

Public or Private?

Councilman Mark Tarlecki asked if the partnership would also include private industry, citing the Merck complex just across Beaver Street in adjacent Upper Gwynedd. Shaw said private firms aren’t involved in drafting the plan, but likely will be once it’s adopted.

"We have over 100 projects we’ve ID’d that we can implement, and not all of them are on municipal land. So they’re going to be on private property,” he said.

Councilwoman Wendy McClure said she was also concerned about the Montgomery Mall in nearby Montgomery Township, "knowing the headwaters of the Wissahickon are there,” and Shaw said he and MCPC were closely monitoring any possible changes there.

"It offers an opportunity to maybe reduce some of the impervious (coverage) that’s there. The malls are very difficult to work with, when you want to take away impervious, because they see it as parking, and parking means customers. But if the land use there changes, there may be an opportunity to justify removing some of the impervious,” he said.

Council President Sal Amato asked if the private landowners like Merck or the mall also fall under the federal or state regulations. Shaw said Merck does have its own stormwater system and permits that are regulated like a municipality, but were not given requirements to remove phosphorous from the creek. Mayor Neil McDevitt asked if residents should be educated on the ongoing efforts, particularly ahead of spring when residents might apply phosphorous-based growing chemicals to their lawns.

"Is there any messaging we can do to help, where maybe instead of 100 projects, if everybody did these things, we would have less projects?” he said. Shaw said it’s easier for residents to address stormwater runoff by projects like adding retention basins, while educational efforts can help publicize the impact of chemicals like phosphorus used in lawn treatments: "Certainly, education can help.”

A stretch of the Wissahickon Creek was improved as part of the Wissahickon Headwaters Stream and Riparian Restoration Project that was completed in 2020. (MediaNews Group file photo)

Shaw said MCPC has helped with basin naturalization and streambank restoration across the county. Landis added that Wissahickon Trails helped with the $1.4 million ‘Wissahickon Headwaters Stream and Riparian Restoration Project” completed at Upper Gwynedd’s Parkside Place complex in 2020, done in partnership with Merck and DEP, and that project had won several awards since.

"A huge part of the project implementation will be intercepting stormwater, getting it to slow down so it has more time to soak into the ground, because that’s a form of pollution removal and also has so many other benefits like reducing flooding,” she said.

Council unanimously approved the agreement, and Hart added thanks on behalf of the group to Landis and Shaw for their efforts.

North Wales borough council next meets at 7 p.m. on Feb. 27 at the borough municipal building, 300 School Street. For more information visit www.NorthWalesBorough.org.

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