After several years of scrutiny since the flooding from Hurricane Ida, the Brandywine Conservancy and its partners in the project released the Brandywine Flood Study. The conservancy launched the study in August 2023, two years after the storm.
Flooding from Ida caused nearly $45 million in damages in Southeastern Pennsylvania and Northern Delaware. The purpose of the study was to find ways to mitigate damage from future flooding events and possibly prevent flooding in certain areas if possible.
Teaming up with the conservancy were the Chester County Water Resource Authority, the University of Delaware Water Resource Center, and Delaware County. Also working on the project were Stroud Water Research Center, West Chester University, and Meliora Design. The study was funded through grants from FEMA, PEMA, and Chester and Delaware counties in Pennsylvania.
The study teams reached out to a variety of people, residents, business owners, municipal government, and non-profits to review the impact the storm had on them and to solicit recommendations through surveys.
Among the findings mentioned in the executive summary were the facts that only 28 percent of those surveyed had flood insurance, while 79 percent said flooding greatly impacted their ability to travel for work or recreation, and had difficulty getting emergency services. More than 50 percent had property damage, and more than 66 percent said they experienced financial loss.
The summary also mentioned flood mitigation recommendations that include some structural changes, including the evaluation of existing flood control facilities, the various dams and reservoirs along the Brandywine. Some may have to be replaced or removed.
According to Grant DeCosta, the conservancy’s director of community services, the planned removal of the dam beneath Route 1 in Chadds Ford Township would help reduce flooding there.
Also recommended are floodplain restoration and other stormwater recommendations.
Non-structural recommendations include identifying “vulnerable bridge crossings and low-lying roads and paying special attention to roadways and access points that may be cut off by flood waters, which could prevent emergency services from reaching those in need.”
Also needing identification are those municipalities that are divided by a waterway that may require multiple emergency response plans. Various easements and open space preservation ordinances on the local level are to be considered.
The Brandywine Watershed covers 325 square miles, with 303 of those miles, 93 percent, in Pennsylvania, and 23 square miles, 7 percent, in Delaware.
The 20-page executive summary of the study may be found here, and the full 96-page report may be found here.
About Rich Schwartzman
Rich Schwartzman has been reporting on events in the greater Chadds Ford area since September 2001 when he became the founding editor of The Chadds Ford Post. In April 2009 he became managing editor of ChaddsFordLive. He is also an award-winning photographer.
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