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As part of looking at the impact of the college’s proposed work area, RPI also realized that there was likely an impact on the Wissahickon Creek and its watershed. The watershed, which means the entire drainage from the top of Chestnut Hill at Sugarloaf down to the creek and from the crest beyond Northwestern Avenue and south through Roxborough to the creek, is protected by various local and national regulations. The Watershed itself is specifically protected by the Wissahickon Watershed Ordinance (WWO) that was mandated by the state in the 1970s. It regulates development on steep slopes to ameliorate and reduce runoff into the creek that affects the city water supply.
(https://codelibrary.amlegal.com/codes/philadelphia/latest/philadelphia_pa/0-0-0-207629)
The larger question of simply blasting away the steep slopes undermines the intent of the WWWO to protect the environment.
Properties along the creek from Northwestern Avenue to Germantown Avenue and on to Forbidden Drive have been suffering significant erosion. This affects the city water supply even as it damages the properties. There is also an increasing risk to infrastructure such as a large sewer line that runs immediately adjacent to the creek.
With an alert from RPI, the Chestnut Hill Local on March 2 published an article on the issues of tree removal and ongoing damage to the creek that raised the issues of the environmental damage that has been occurring.
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In order to properly understand the extent and causes of the damage, community neighbors have funded RPI to hire Aterra Solutions, an environmental engineering firm, to evaluate the creek and the causes of the current problems. An extensive historical survey of the recent evolution of the creek based on historic atlases, US Geological Service maps, aerial photography and more recent Google Earth images make it possible to see the changes to the creek and to understand how and why the damage is occurring. This has been augmented by a physical analysis – from within the creek itself and along its banks that tell the story of the creek erosion.
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Aterra Solutions are completing their study at present and will present it to the community in the near future. Keep an eye for a future invitation to the community meeting to discuss the findings of the engineers.