ZELIENOPLE — Whitey Boehm, Cranberry Township resident and owner of Whitey's General Store & Clothing in Zelienople, has been removing water from his basement for three weeks.

“The first flood, which was about two weeks ago, there was about 3 feet of water in my basement and it took out the furnace,” Boehm said. “It was a $2,000 job to fix that, which they fixed last Monday, then Thursday night it started raining again and I had almost just as much water back in there again.”

Even after several attempts to drain the water, Boehm estimates 1 to 2 inches of water remain in his basement due to a blocked drain underneath the road.

“It’s really a defeating feeling, you know, you just feel like you can’t get anywhere,” he said. “I keep pumping it out and because the drain is clogged, I still get about at least 2 inches of water in there.”

Boehm said he’s been patient while trying to find a solution to getting rid of the makeshift pond that has formed in his basement, but admitted that he’s not “thrilled” with his current situation.

“I live alone and it’s really been miserable,” he said. “It’s been a miserable spring.”

The historic rainfall that struck Butler County twice over a 10-day span has left residents like Boehm both wet and frustrated from the flooding. With much of the damage occurring in the southern part of Butler County, county officials are working on preventing and mitigating the destruction caused by the excessive precipitation.

The main source of flooding in areas like Zelienople and Harmony comes from the Connoquenessing Creek, a 50-mile tributary that flows throughout the southwest part of the county.

Mary Hess, council president of Zelienople and Lancaster’s township manager, is well-versed in the problems the overflow of the creek can bring to area.

“There’s been flooding issues since the turn of the century, it’s been an ongoing problem,” Hess said. “The Connoquenessing Creek is not a very deep stream bed and it has a lot of silt.”

Hess, along with several other local municipal leaders, have come together in an effort to combat flooding in the area.

In 2019, a group of 10 municipalities in southern Butler county, including Zelienople, Jackson Township, Harmony and Evans City formed the Southwestern Butler Stormwater Group to address flooding.

“We formed this regional group because stormwater doesn’t follow municipal lines,” Hess said.

According to Butler County Commissioner Kim Geyer, the group first focused on research, then set out to identify specific areas in which each municipality was impacted by flooding. The group also was tasked with providing recommendations on how to handle the problems.

“Thousands of dollars have been dedicated to over 15 different municipalities in which projects are either currently underway or recently completed,” Geyer said.

The group’s efforts paid off. When “unexpected federal money” became available to the county in 2020 and 2021, the stormwater group’s projects were “shovel-ready” and “quickly put into action” according to Geyer.

The projects included improvements to flood plains, tributaries, streams, road, storm sewers and enclosed streams, along with making modification to existing stormwater retention facilities.

“Since 2019, we have invested almost $10 million into stormwater projects,” Geyer said. “We have many, and multiple, watersheds throughout the county. Some of our municipalities have more than one watershed such as Harmony Borough, which is in a flood plain and has experienced flooding for over a hundred years.”

In April 2023, the Southwestern Butler Stormwater Group was recognized with the 2023 Governor’s Award for local government excellence.

Even with Butler’s investments in flood mitigation and prevention, Harmony resident James Hulings does not believe the county’s projects have had much success.

“Since 2004 we’ve actually had 12 flooding events,” Hulings said. “Prior to 2004 there were only two or three flooding events. What’s happening is the propensity for Harmony and Zelienople to flood is going up linearly at a rapid rate.”

President of the “Zelienople Residents in the Know” newsletter, Huling has started a letter-writing campaign requesting Butler take $1 million from the county contingency fund and redistribute it to a local flood control authority.

“Let’s look at this as a county problem,” Huling said. “Let’s stop the flooding before it gets to Harmony. Because once it gets to Harmony, it’s too late.”

Municipalities within the stormwater group are currently in the process of starting a stormwater authority. Lancaster, Jackson Township, Zelienople and Harmony are working to form an authority focused on safeguarding one of the county’s most flood-vulnerable areas.

Once approved by the governing municipalities, the authority plans to collect a small fee from both residents and businesses who own impervious surfaces to create a “war chest” to fight off flooding problems, according to Hess.

“The fund would help offset any impact that would happen to any of these communities,” she said.

The newly formed authority plans to also put in place controls to create better retention and improve the flow of the stormwater, as well as invest in infrastructures throughout the municipalities.

“Whether it’s to improve the storm drains or the catch basins, whatever it is, we’ll make those improvements,” Hess said. “There’s a lot of old infrastructure in Zelienople and Harmony and Evans City that needs to be repaired and improved.”

The creation of the authority is in the final planning stages and could come to order by this summer, according to Hess.

“We’re close,” she said. “We’re very close to it.”

County commissioner Leslie Osche said the county is working with officials in the northern part of the county.

“Solving problems downstream without solving problems upstream is pointless,” she said.

Osche said many of the efforts are working, citing the Sullivan Run project in the city of Butler.

“It must have made a tremendous difference because you did not see the flooding in the city this time,” she said.

The commissioner also said educating the public is a key factor with flooding, as residents can play a role in identifying flooding issues throughout the county.

“All of this takes patience and time. We are working now with the stormwater group to improve communication and information dissemination efforts,” Osche said. “However, I encourage citizens to attend their municipal meetings and stay abreast of these projects and their results and to assume personal responsibility for their own mitigation as well. If you see something specific that needs addressed, report it.”