Bethlehem Twp. residents have new way help improve stormwater infrastructure

• Bethlehem Township stormwater officials announced a new way for residents to report flooding and other issues with stormwater
• At a meeting Tuesday, the township’s stormwater engineers also discussed current plans for infrastructure projects, and an ongoing flood study
• The flood study’s findings are set for release early next year

BETHLEHEM TWP., Pa. — A new web tool gives Bethlehem Township residents a way to report flooding and other stormwater issues, township stormwater engineers announced at a meeting Tuesday.

Reports from the tool will help inform the township’s running list of stormwater infrastructure projects.

“Residents can provide their input to help make this [stormwater] capital improvement plan like a living, breathing document that everyone can be involved in to help improve stormwater and flooding in the township,” said Jonathan Robinson, an assistant project manager with Herbert, Rowland & Grubic, the township’s stormwater engineering firm.

Robinson and HRG stormwater planner Kaitlin Mills also shared updates on the township’s list of planned stormwater infrastructure projects, among them a new storm sewer for a stretch of Walnut Street and improvements to detention basins near Easton Avenue.

The Easton Avenue project is funded in part through a $3 million Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities grantfrom the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and $1 million from the Pa. Commonwealth Financing Authority.

The rest of the project, like similar infrastructure construction in the township, taps money from annual stormwater fees.

Update on flood study

Mills and Robinson also gave an update Tuesday about progress on a flood study, conducted with funding from FEMA.

The firm recently completed a software model of the township’s stormwater infrastructure and natural watersheds, to predict how both respond to heavy rain.

Planners will use the model to help evaluate options to manage runoff.

HRG plans to share the study’s results at a public meeting early next year.

The township has seen flooding for decades, caused by a lack of past stormwater infrastructure construction, ongoing development in flood plains, and increasing rainfall caused by climate change.

“For 30 years we’ve been dealing with this," township resident Allen Billiard said at Tuesday’s meeting.

"I grew up off of Santee Road, and unfortunately, there were times when that road was unpassable. We need to take a proactive stance on this versus being just reactive.”