Boiling Brook Stream Bank Stabilization Project
The Shopping Center, which was built before for stormwater controls were required, sends torrents of polluted runoff from its acres of impervious surfaces into Boiling Brook whenever it rains.
Boiling Brook had been neglected for years. The County originally addressed increased stormwater runoff by installing concrete "aprons" and "drop steps" across it in the stretch from Schuykill Road to Ashley Drive, but over time nearly all the concrete structures had collapsed. To make matters worse, the blockages created by these collapsed structure accelerated the erosion on the stream banks.
After last June's (2006) flooding, Boiling Brook Parkway and utility poles along the parkway were in jeopardy of facing serious damage. According to DEP, environmentally sensitive options were considered, but not pursued because of lengthy design and permitting times, costly diversion structures, massive utility relocations, roadway reconstruction, and significant disruption to the community. After the June flood, Boiling Brook was a serious safety and erosion issue that required an immediate response. It was too late to seriously consider stream restoration and reducing stormwater runoff from the surrounding impervious surfaces.
If Boiling Brook's troubles had been addressed earlier, we might have had more options. There were many sustainable options available. Montgomery and Prince Georges Counties for example has been experimenting with alternatives that not only retain stormwater runoff parking lots, but also cleanses the runoff before it enters the nearby waterway. Examples shown below of landscape practices in parking lots in the area that retain and cleanse stormwater runoff. Hopefully, what happened to Boiling Brook can serve as a wake call for the need to start addressing stormwater runoff and its symptoms in a planned and cost effective manner. If so, Boiling Brook will not have died in vain.
