Flooding throughout the Perkiomen Watershed has worsened in recent years. A study conducted by multiple partners hopes to help mitigate those issues.

            Last week, members of the Perkiomen Mapping and Flood Study team discussed their work during a public meeting at Upper Perkiomen High School. The goal is to provide mitigation proposals for the 20 most impacted areas within the floodplain.

            State Rep. Joe Webster, D-150th Dist., established the study – a collaboration of the Montgomery County Planning Commission, the county conservation district, the Perkiomen Watershed Conservancy and local municipalities – to combat water intervention throughout the 362-mile area. It includes the watershed's five main tributaries that span Montgomery, Berks, Bucks and Lehigh counties. Officials from 55 municipalities are participating in the study, according to Drew Shaw, a project manager from the Montgomery County Planning Commission.

            Webster – who represents Collegeville, Trappe, Lower and Upper Providence, and West Norriton and serves on the Looking for Veterans Affairs & Emergency Preparedness in Harrisburg – procured the funds for the study and said the goal is to fix outdated flooding maps and determine current flood patterns and risks. He claimed it would help elected officials and engineers better develop a clear understanding of how geographically and geologically water runs through the communities and creates floodwaters caused by storms so that counties can act to mitigate or prevent flooding.

            "In the last three years, we've had six storms that are now historic-level flooding events and it's time for us to sit back and understand what's happening," Webster said during a Feb. 23 announcement at his Collegeville office.

            The updated mapping will allow county officials to prevent the level of destruction caused by Hurricane Ida three years ago, according to Montgomery County Commissioners Chair Jamila Winder. She described it as critical research to help protect residents.

            "Flooding used to only happen at the bottom of the watershed. Now it's happening everywhere," said Crystal Gilchrist, program director for the Perkiomen Stormwater Initiative, during the Nov. 21 presentation in the school's auditorium.

            By mapping the entirety of the watershed – that stretches from Upper Saucon in Lehigh County in the north to Green Lane at the southern end – officials will finally have a clear understanding of how geographically and geologically water runs through the communities and causes the floodwaters seen in storms so that counties can act now to mitigate and prevent flooding.

            Completion of the study, and the creation of a document, will make it easier for communities to win grant money, according to Jonathan Robinson, an assistant project manager from Herbert, Rowland & Grubic, Inc., an engineering firm with the King of Prussia office.

            Flooding occurs when rainfall exceeds the capacity of the land to accommodate it. However, rapid development over the last 50 years has reduced the natural landscape that would otherwise absorb most of the storm runoff, according to Gilchrist.

            "We need to get more water back into the ground," she said.

            Conditions have grown wetter in the long term despite the current near-drought conditions, according to Beth Uhler, from the Perkiomen Watershed Conservancy. She said the removal of impervious coverage has led to additional runoff.

            In many of the communities, the study will propose implementing a combination of green and gray infrastructure. Uhler described "green" as bio-retention, native landscaping stormwater wetlands, and "gray" as bridges, culverts, pipes and gutters.