Streambank Stabilization
Jefferson Hills

What Municipalities Can Do

Pennsylvania is a Commonwealth. This means that much of the work of government takes place at the local level. Municipalities bear much of the responsibility for stormwater management, floodplain management and stormwater discharges into streams within their political boundaries. To more effectively manage stormwater and minimize flooding potential municipalities can:

• Enact zoning ordinances that protect and preserve floodplains, wetlands, and steep forested slopes that help to manage stormwater.

• Cooperate with Allegheny County and Washington County and other watershed municipalities to develop a Stormwater Management Plan for the entire Peters Creek Watershed.

• Adopt and administer local floodplain management practices that are aimed at protecting lives and new construction from future flooding and permit floodplains to manage water as nature intended.

• Encourage new development that utilizes planning practices and best management practices that minimize the generation of stormwater runoff, provide groundwater recharge, and minimize the adverse effects of stormwater discharges on water resources.

• Identify and remediate portions of the watershed already damaged by excessive stormwater runoff utilizing natural design techniques.