Since 2017, we have partnered with the Boroughs of Edgewood, Swissvale and Wilkinsburg, along with the Allegheny County Conservation District (ACCD), Allegheny County Sanitary Authority (ALCOSAN), Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT), Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority (PWSA) and Three Rivers Wet Weather (3RWW) on the Nine Mile Run Stormwater Partnership.
This partnership is charged with helping to implement a stormwater management program called MS4 (Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System). MS4 is a program administered by the PA Department of Environmental Protection that provides guidelines for municipalities to reduce pollutants and stormwater volume in the storm sewer system. In addition to municipal and commercial efforts, a successful MS4 program calls for significant action by community residents.
The partnership developed an MS4 Plan to outline activities through 2022, when the next cycle of MS4 permits begins, and a new plan will be in place to guide us through the next cycle. The plan aims to increase the involvement of the watershed communities and residents in the protection and restoration of the NMR watershed through engagement, education and empowerment.
Despite each community having separate MS4 permits, UpstreamPgh supports each borough communally in the form of watershed-wide events such as our Stream Sweep, as well as individually through neighborhood street tree planting and other programs.
The partnership has been a catalyst for collaboration between the boroughs as well as between the boroughs and the authorities who also have a seat at the table. The partnership has fostered new opportunities such as the forthcoming Wilkinsburg Stormwater Resiliency Project and the Citizen Tree Project.
Partners
Borough of Edgewood
Borough of Wilkinsburg
Borough of Swissvale
Allegheny County Conservation District (ACCD)
Allegheny County Sanitary Authority (ALCOSAN)
Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT)
Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority (PWSA)
Three Rivers Wet Weather (3RWW)
Funding
Hillman Foundation
Richard Kind Mellon Foundation
