Philadelphia’s Eastwick neighborhood suffers from chronic flooding that will only be exacerbated by the effects of climate change.

AKRF prepared a hydrologic and hydraulic modeling and analysis study of Philadelphia’s Eastwick neighborhood, where stormwater runoff upstream of the community flows to Cobbs Creek, Darby Creek, or the Schuylkill River, and runoff generated within Eastwick itself flows to storm sewers. The neighborhood is located adjacent to a former municipal landfill, petroleum refineries, and the largest freshwater tidal marsh in the state and is susceptible to continual riverine and tidal-influenced flooding.  

We helped city officials and the local community understand the current state of flooding and evaluate proposed beneficial reuse scenarios of available public lands, focusing on parcels owned by the Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority and Philadelphia School District. Key inputs to our study include 100-year stream flow, 100-year storm surge, future sea level rise, and the effects of existing stormwater infrastructure.

AKRF led coordination and collaboration with local, state, and federal agencies and assisted PRA in obtaining federal funding for the study through an EPA Brownfield grant.