HARMONY — A study of borough flooding determined that no preventive measures under consideration would be cost-effective as long-term solutions.

Herbert, Rowland and Grubic Engineering and Related Services performed the study on the “persistent intermittent flooding problem in Harmony” last year, according to Harmony Council President Greg Such. The study was paid for with tax dollars from Harmony, Jackson Township and Zelienople as well as private money from a local company.

Nearly every year, flooding occurs throughout the borough, especially along Connoquenessing Creek, which snakes along the north and west borders of Harmony before it flows west to Zelienople.

“We've had (this problem) for probably just about forever,” Such said. “There are some folks (who) fear that it's getting worse over time as there's more development — I don't have any statistics to support that one way or the other, but in the past, there was concern.”

The study, Such said, was initiated to address the problem and recommend possible solutions that are frequently offered to borough council and community members with scientific backing.

“The commonly proposed solutions aren't going to work,” he said.

According to the PowerPoint presentation of the report, HRG investigated the possibility of decreasing the flooding through the modification of the Route 19 bridge in Zelienople, which is downstream from the Mercer Street Bridge in Harmony and encroaches into the floodplain “potentially causing an obstruction” and a bottleneck against water flow, according to the report.

HRG also looked into the modification of the floodplain at Reservoir Park in Jackson Township and a conceptual flood control structure by adding a levee in Harmony.

These proposed solutions ranged in cost from $5,000 to $30 million to put into action.

HRG used flood insurance data gathered by the Army Corps of Engineers' Hydrologic Engineering Center River Analysis System for baseline comparison for the accuracy of the information. HRG also “utilized” an analysis provided by PVE Sheffler for the Creekside Manor development in Harmony and Jackson Township.

HRG reported that “studied options all have high cost-to-benefit ratio,” determining that “the cost didn't really justify the gain,” Such said.

An undocumented solution of dredging the creek was also looked into, Such said, but this came up as potentially being more expensive than the other three options and equally as unmaintainable.

“It would fill up again in several years,” Such said about dredging, “and we'd be back where we started.”

Currently, there are no proposals for further action on the borough's behalf in regard to flooding, but Such said there were some benefits from the study.

“Number one, we eliminated these approaches as being potential mitigation for flooding,” he said. “The net result of this is that Butler County got a better recognition of the inner relationship between the communities when it comes to flood control and the need for more of a regional flood control approach.”

Such said he hopes the county is “more aware of a need for a bigger approach,” rather than a community by community basis.