Stormwater Management

A Stormwater Management Plan provides a mechanism for municipalities within the watershed to plan for and manage increased runoff associated with future development and land use changes.

The purpose of a watershed plan is to provide a watershed-wide (as opposed to municipal or site) approach to stormwater management since runoff does not recognize municipal boundaries. By treating the watershed as a single unit, we can achieve a coordinated approach to stormwater management that enables us to not only maintain runoff peaks, but allows for timing relationships of runoff.

This type of plan will provide local ordinances that incorporate standards and criteria to manage and maintain peak runoff flows throughout the combined watersheds as development occurs. Also, it is not the intent of this plan to solve existing flooding or runoff problems, but to identify them for future correction and assure that problems do not get worse. More specifically, this plan does not require the municipalities to correct existing drainage problems.

A stormwater management plan is generated within a watershed in order to comply with the Stormwater Management Act of 1978 (Act 167), which requires each county in Pennsylvania to prepare and adopt a stormwater management plan for each designated watershed in the county.

There are presently two Act 167 stormwater management plans that have been adopted in Clinton County: Chatham Run and Fishing Creek. In Clinton County, the Conservation District has been the lead agency responsible for preparing the two stormwater management plans now in effect for our county; while other county government offices are participating organizations. Specific government offices from each county participating in the planning process are listed under the WPAC example section below for Fishing Creek's stormwater management plan.

Requirements of Act 167

The following summary includes the basic elements of Act 167 in terms of specific responsibilities assigned to various units of state and local government:

Each county shall develop regional stormwater management plans for each watershed within its boundaries, recognizing that most watersheds will cross county boundaries, and will require collaboration with neighboring counties.
Each municipality will adopt local ordinances and engineering design criteria which conform to the provisions of their respective stormwater management plans.
Developers must implement stormwater management techniques that meet the standards and criteria set forth in the appropriate municipal ordinances, as supported by the watershed stormwater management plan. In general, these stormwater management techniques will ensure that post-development runoff rates throughout the watershed do not exceed pre-development levels.
PA Department of Environmental Protection will serve as the review agency for each watershed storm water management plan submitted by the counties.

The Act 167 planning process involves three essential steps:

Documentation of existing watershed characteristics, including land use, soils, runoff conditions, peak flows, sub-area timing relationships, existing storm drainage problems, and flow obstructions. The existing conditions in the watershed represent the base line for evaluating the effects of future runoff caused by land development.
Preparation of a watershed stormwater management plan to manage stormwater based on possible future development and land use change within the watershed. The plan includes criteria and performance standards for managing urban runoff, and a listing of alternative stormwater management techniques.
Development of priorities for implementing stormwater management practices within each municipality. This step is crucial to the entire planning process, since local level control is the only mechanism by which we can achieve total watershed-wide storm water management. While this may seem contradictory to our objective of watershed-wide planning, we ask the reader to bear in mind that responsibility for managing excessive stormwater resides with each municipality, in accordance with Act 167.

Fishing Creek Watershed Plan Advisory Committee (WPAC)

The Act allows municipalities, conservation districts and other interest groups to provide input and direction during the planning process through participation in a Watershed Plan Advisory Committee. The committees' representatives included:

COUNTY AGENCIES

Clinton County Commissioners, Conservation District, Planning Commission, and Solicitor
Union County Commissioners, Conservation District, Planning Commission, and Solicitor
Centre County Commissioners, Conservation District, Planning Commission, and Solicitor
Lycoming County Commissioners, Conservation District, Planning Commission, and Solicitor

STATE AGENCIES

Bald Eagle State Forest
PA Department of Transportation
PA Fish and Boat Commission
PA DEP Water Supply & Community Health
PA Game Commission
PA DEP Storm Water Management & Sediment Control

FEDERAL AGENCIES

USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (Formerly SCS)

MUNICIPALITIES

Bald Eagle Township
Loganton Borough
Castanea Township
Marion Township
Crawford Township
Miles Township
Greene Township
Mill Hall Borough
Greg Township
Porter Township
Lamar Township
Spring Township
Lewis Township
Walker Township
Logan Township
Washington Township

WATER COMPANIES

Booneville Water Company
Rote Mutual Water Company
Bull Run Water Assoc. Inc.
Spring Township Water Authority
Eastville Water Company
Tylersville Water Company
Greenburr Water Company
Walker Township Water Assoc.
Mackeyville Water Company
64 Water Company, Inc.
Nittany Water Company

OTHER PARTIES

Big Fishing Creek Cottage Association
Lock Haven University

This committee promoted municipal involvement that insured inter-municipal cooperation and ultimately aided in the overall preparation of the plan. The success and effectiveness of the Fishing Creek/Cedar Run Stormwater Management Plan are contingent up on the continued cooperation and input from the municipalities.

Sweetland Engineering and Other Plan Participants

Sweetland Engineering & Associates, Inc., of State College, Pennsylvania is our engineering consultant for Stormwater Management Planning. The firm was responsible for preparing the technical components of this plan including Model Selection, Calibration, and Runs, and developing the Technical Standards and Criteria of the model ordinance.

This is the Fishing Creek/Cedar Run Watershed. A watershed is the drainage area (basin) of a stream or streams. The Fishing Creek/Cedar Run Watershed is part of the Susquehanna River Basin which is part of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed.

The Fishing Creek/Cedar Run Watershed is Clinton County's second stormwater management plan; the first one was Chathum Run. Fishing Creek/Cedar Run Plan is an important plan because the potential for development and land use change in this watershed is increasing due to its proximity to both Pennsylvania State University and Lock Haven University.

Scott Mazzetti was the consultant for the conservation district's stormwater management planning. He is a graduate student of Penn State University. He worked with Sweetland Engineering & Associates, Inc. and the Department of Environmental Protection for 3 years to complete the plan. The Fishing Creek/Cedar Run Stormwater Management Plan was approved by the Clinton County Board of Commissioners, December 13, 1995. The 16 municipalities, listed above, had 6 months from that date to enact ordinances to enforce this plan.

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Stormwater Management

Requirements of Act 167

Fishing Creek Watershed Plan Advisory Committee (WPAC)

Contact Information