ZELIENOPLE — A hydraulic study is being sought to examine the cause of Connoquenessing Creek flooding, with municipalities impacted by that flooding chipping in to fund it.

During a meeting of borough council Monday, members voted to contribute to the study, which is aimed at addressing what officials called a “long-standing problem” with flooding along the waterway.

Mark Gordon, Butler County chief of economic development and planning, told council he began looking into potential issues on a portion of the creek by securing an analysis provided by an engineering firm as a professional courtesy. He said those preliminary results indicated there are impediments in the water system that may cause the flooding.

One of those impediments could be a pier on a bridge on Route 19 in Jackson Township. Gordon said the study would work to find what solutions are available to remedy that impediment, as well as rerun hydraulic models to find where the next obstruction would be.

“You just don’t want to push the problem downstream if downstream doesn’t have the capacity,” he said.

The cost of the study is about $20,000, Gordon said. He said typically municipalities would contract out such work on their own. But the cost is more than most municipalities can handle.

On Monday he asked Zelienople officials to join with Harmony, Jackson Township and the Western Butler County Authority, a regional sewage authority, to split the cost. Each entity would pay $3,800, with the remainder being paid for through private donations.

“This will not solve the flooding problem, but you can’t solve the problem without having the right facts,” Gordon said. “Today, it is my opinion that all we have is conjecture.”

That conjecture includes statements that development has caused a change in the floodplain. He added the study doesn’t deal with potential problems caused by stormwater runoff. However, partnering with neighboring communities to find a solution would be a show of community engagement, he said.

Greg Such, Harmony Council president, agreed, telling Zelienople Council members that the flooding has impacted the borough for years, and has led to “bad blood” between the borough and certain developers.

“I’m certainly looking forward to getting some data and ... putting some clarity to the whole situation,” he said, adding the acceptance of the proposal was contingent upon all other involved parties agreeing to the matter.

Don Pepe, borough manager, said while recent flooding in the area was not directly caused by the Connoquenessing, the creek causes backups that have impact across the region. He said while the cost of the project was not budgeted, he could find the funds within the existing budget.

Council ultimately voted 5 to 2 to contribute to the study, with members Marietta Reeb and Gregg Semel voting no.