CHICOPEE — Three Pioneer Valley communities will get help from the Environmental Protection Agency to reduce stormwater runoff and its environmental harm.
Amherst, Chicopee and South Hadley will participate in EPA workshops to improve how they manage stormwater flooding.
Stormwater runoff, generated from rain and snowmelt, can pick up pollutants that can harm rivers, streams, lakes and coastal waters, the EPA states.
Six workshops will take place between the EPA, Chicopee staff and stakeholders between November and September 2024, said Quinn Lonczak, project supervisor of the Chicopee Water Pollution Control Department.
“Stormwater is becoming more scrutinized,” Lonczak said. “It used to go into a catch basin. Now there’s a greater look at where it’s ultimately going. That’s frequently the Connecticut and Chicopee rivers.”
Lonczak said that he hopes some of the stormwater management ideas will be implemented in the city’s downtown, which he considers an area in need of environmental reform.
He said that 27 neighborhoods in Chicopee are in need of better environmental practices.
“We’re always interested in getting an opportunity to improve environmental quality everywhere, but especially in those areas, and they’re (mostly) near the Connecticut and Chicopee rivers,” he said.
Like other communities, Amherst is seeking reliable funding to develop solutions to reduce flooding and improve water quality.
In a statement, EPA Regional Administrator David W. Cash said communities need assistance.
“For environmentally overburdened and under-resourced communities, it is especially important to address stormwater runoff challenges to improve water quality,” he said.
The agency also plans to work with officials in Milford, Somerville and Stoughton.
