PWSA Stormwater Strategic Plan Ambassador Project

 

Want to give feedback on the Stormwater Strategic Plan? Take the Watershed Survey for your neighborhood (found below)!

Unsure of what your watershed is? Learn more at livingwaterspgh.org.

Take the Survey!

Four Mile Run Survey Negley and Heth's Run Survey Soho Run Survey S. 21st Street Survey Homewood and Larimer Saw Mill Run Survey Woods Run Survey Hazelwood Survey Sheraden Survey

Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority is seeking community input as it develops its Stormwater Strategic Plan which will serve as Pittsburgh’s blueprint to address local stormwater challenges. It will seek to address the specific goals of improving water quality, reducing street flooding and basement backups, and beautifying neighborhoods in an affordable manner. All of which will create a community that is healthier, safer, and more resilient to the impacts of stormwater.

In partnership with PWSA, Grounded Strategies has launched a community-based effort to equip residents with information needed to engage their Pittsburgh Sewer and Water Authority (PWSA) Stormwater Strategic Plan peers on updates including design and investment strategies, stormwater fee, customer financial assistance program, and stormwater issues in their communities. For more information about PWSA Stormwater programs check out: https://www.pgh2o.com/your-water/stormwater.   

The PWSA Stormwater Strategic Plan Ambassador program transforms passionate residents into well-equipped and knowledgeable champions of stormwater infrastructure in their communities. Throughout the program, Ambassadors are recruited, interviewed, selected, trained, & equipped for assigned community outreach objectives to include neighbor-to-neighbor education activities and community-scale data collection.

We seek to remove hurdles to participation and level curves of technical understanding for Ambassadors throughout the project. Grounded is supporting outreach and community engagement activities for PWSA Stormwater Strategic Plan in the following watersheds/neighborhoods: 

Cohort 1:

  • Four Mile Run Watershed: Oakland, Greenfield, Squirrel Hill, and Hazelwood.
  • Negley Run Watershed: Highland Park, East Liberty, Larimer, Homewood West, Homewood North, Homewood South, Point Breeze North, Lincoln-Lemington-Belmar, East Hills, and Penn Hills.
  • Soho Run Watershed: Upper Hill, Middle Hill, Terrace Village, and Uptown.
  • S 21st St Watershed: Southside Flats and Southside Slopes.

Cohort 2:

  • Saw Mill Run Watershed: Allentown, Banksville, Beechview, Beltzhoover, Bon Air, Brookline, Carrick, Duquesne Heights, Knoxville, Mount Washington, Overbrook, and Ridgemont
  • Homewood in the Negley Run Watershed
  • Sheraden in the Chartiers Creek Watershed
  • Hazelwood in the Four Mile Run Watershed

The plan outlines six priority actions:

  1. Analyze Priority Areas of Investment
  2. Define Initial Investment Strategy and Project Designs
  3. Leverage Stormwater Fee Impact
  4. Establish Guiding Principles to Level of Service and Flooding
  5. Develop a Communication Framework to Increase Transparency
  6. Develop a Framework for a Joint Task Force on Stormwater

Based on these priority actions, the ambassadors created community surveys tailored to their watersheds and about stormwater issues that impact them the most.