The end of May brought an unpleasantly familiar scene to many areas of Butler County.

Phones buzzing with weather reports and warnings gave way to a deluge of rain — more than 6 inches in some places. Basements were flooded and streets rendered impassable, with anxious home and business owners left only to watch and hope the damage wasn't too severe.

The situation played out more in recent years, with flooding seemingly worsening with each storm. Mother Nature is surely to blame for some of the issues, with this year's storms setting rainfall records.

However, other factors play into the increasing damage.

Over the past month, Butler Eagle staff investigated not only what is causing these issues, but also what local officials are doing to address the problems. Starting today, and running through Sunday, we aim to provide readers with a more in-depth look at the “High Water Mark” issues facing communities throughout Butler County.

Today's focus: Adams Township

Coming Thursday: Zelienople

ADAMS TWP — Spurred by residents voicing concerns with ongoing stormwater issues, township supervisors issued a cease-and-desist order Tuesday for the developers of the Woodland Trace housing development.Residents, who testified flooding has disrupted their homes and properties for several months, said they've never had issues to this degree.“It's beyond a nuisance at this point,” said Adam Reddinger, who lives along Woodford Drive. “The little storm that we had (last week) is putting enough water into my yard that it's flooding the basement, the pool and the rest of the yard.”Reddinger said runoff is coming from the Woodland Trace development situated above his property. Victor Green reported his property at the bottom of a cul-de-sac on Woodford Drive is also affected.“My basement has been flooded eight times. I have a garage door that's sandbagged shut,” Green said. “I've been here 40 years. It's the first time that's happened.”Green added township public works officials looked at the issue and applied a cold patch to redirect water. Green appreciated the effort, but said it isn't enough.“We need some stormwater management system in and around the cul-de-sac to slow it down,” he said.Homeowner Gregory Sullivan agreed. Water has been gulching his property since 2018, when Sullivan brought the situation to the attention of Woodland Trace developer Tim Kelly. Sullivan shared correspondence from Kelly with supervisors. At the time, Kelly replied that installing a stormwater system to eliminate the problem was under way.“Eliminate is a pretty strong word,” Sullivan said. “They're not even close.”Township Engineer Ron Olsen said he looked into some of the issues, but he wasn't aware of most of them.“They haven't been coming in and complaining,” Olsen said. “Tim Kelly has a good reputation in the township. But I think he really needs to pay attention carefully.”Kelly explained the company is looking into establishing various controls. He argued the problem isn't due to the development alone, although some of it is. He recognized one township catch basin is inefficiently placed.“We're exacerbating the problem, there's no doubt about it,” Kelly said. “(But) none of (the water) is entering an existing catch basin.”Supervisor Russell Ford said the basin was not an issue before the development. Residents reminded supervisors there had been discussion of the developer making improvements to catch basins at the bottom of Spring Drive. Whether the developer agreed to do so was unclear.“If we did, I'm remiss and it will be done,” Kelly said.Citing a cease-and-desist order supervisors issued to Cypress Fields developers last month for a similar problem, Chairman Thomas Franceschina suggested the township follow suit.“The thought here might be to give you the two weeks to come up here with a remedy (for) the situation,” Franceschina told Kelly.The board unanimously approved issuing an order that prevents Woodland Trace from receiving new building permits until water issues are fixed. Progress on the issue will be reviewed at the July 22 meeting. In the meantime, Olsen will review the project area.