Leaders are launching a $5 million study to address decades of flooding along Chartiers Creek, saying that for the more than 250,000 people who live near it, the threat of flooding is always there.
After heavy rain, the creek has repeatedly overflowed its banks, damaging homes and businesses across Allegheny and Washington Counties for more than fifty years.
On Thursday, officials announced a $5 million Chartiers Creek Flood Risk Management Study, fully funded through federal disaster relief. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will lead the effort, which aims to find long-term solutions to reduce flooding along the 48-mile waterway.
“We want to move fast. We want to hustle to solve problems,” said Lt. Gen. William “Butch” Graham Jr., chief of engineers and commanding general of the Army Corps.
Graham said the goal is to quickly bring decision-makers together and move from planning to construction without cutting corners.
“You have to understand where the water is going, and how sediment coming off the hills is clogging these waterways,” he said.
The flooding has taken a toll on communities like Carnegie, Bridgeville, Cecil Township and Houston. Just weeks ago, a softball field in Chartiers Township was completely underwater.
For business owners like Michael Gibbons, the damage is personal.
“Our downstairs is just below ground level. ... The last flood was 7 feet of water, which destroyed everything,” said Gibbons, who owns Precious Paws Pet Salon in Bridgeville.
He says his business has flooded multiple times over the years.
“The Army Corps of Engineers said it would be a 100-year flood. ... Four to five years later it flood again, and four to five years after that, and three years after that,” he said.
Leaders say a new “rapid planning” approach is expected to speed up the process, cutting studies that once took decades down to about three years, with construction potentially starting as early as 2029 or 2030.
The goal is to bring experts together, identify solutions and move quickly to protect communities that have been waiting for answers for generations.
Officials say work is already underway.
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