Groups pool grants to reduce storm water in East End

The Penn State Center, Pittsburgh Community Services and state Sen. Jim Ferlo have teamed up to combine two Allegheny County grants to leverage foundation support for a green infrastructure project in the East End's 15206 ZIP code area.

Project 15206 and the East End Rain Container Initiative have received $250,000 grants each from the County Infrastructure and Tourism Fund to target 10 sites in five neighborhoods to reduce storm runoff in the Negley Run and Heth's Run watersheds. Rapid runoff in August 2011 contributed to four deaths in floodwaters on Washington Boulevard.

Penn State Center has overall charge of the project and will coordinate site design, construction of wetlands, rain gardens and bioswales and work with TreeVitalize to strategically plant trees through 2015.

Community meetings have begun. The next one is from 5:30 to 8 p.m. May 28 at the Kingsley Association in Larimer.

Pittsburgh Community Services and Mr. Ferlo's staff have begun outreach and already have 250 households committed to having rain containers installed. There are funds for 400 containers that will be supplied by the Nine Mile Run Watershed Association's StormWorks program. Depending on people's incomes, they will be installed for free or at reduced cost.

Consultant Matt Graham of Landbase Systems estimates that 400 rain containers properly installed and drained of two-tenths of a gallon per hour -- a slow drip -- into a backyard or garden can prevent 2 million gallons of water from entering storm sewers each year.

"Whatever we do," said Deno De Ciantis, director of the Penn State Center in Pittsburgh, "our facilities will have to handle peaks. We need to align all the thinking among policy makers, design people, water scientists and residents so we can be as effective as possible in every opportunity to mitigate storm water," he said.

That likely will require changes to municipal regulations that conflict with rain infrastructure, he said.

The city of Pittsburgh will contribute funds and labor and the Allegheny County Sanitary Authority will monitor the sites. Three of the 10 proposed sites are between North Negley and Stanton avenues in Morningside and Highland Park. One is in East Liberty between South Negley and Centre Avenue -- the former Penn Circle South. A cluster of four straddles Washington Boulevard in Larimer and Homewood. One is above Washington Boulevard in Lemington and one is along Negley Run Boulevard in Highland Park.

Lisa Kunst Vavro, a landscape architect and the sustainable environments manager for the Penn State Center, said Negley Run is "the top priority because of the flooding that claimed four lives. By the end of May we should be full force into design."

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Groups pool grants to reduce storm water in East End