Batroney, Thomas

Thomas Batroney is a speaker at WEFTEC 2026.

Titles from this speaker

Description: Quantifying the Socioeconomic Impacts and Benefits of Nature Based Floodplain...

Quantifying the Socioeconomic Impacts and Benefits of Nature Based Floodplain Projects in a Flood Prone Urban Watershed in Pittsburgh, PA

Abstract

Saw Mill Run Watershed near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania is a highly urbanized watershed with steep slopes, narrow ravines, minimal upstream stormwater management controls and natural floodplain buffers. For more than a century, the main stem of the stream has been historically prone to hazardous flash flooding conditions. More recently, public records from 2010 to 2020 indicate that there were 49 days of individual flash flooding occurrences resulting in a combination of road closures, damages, cleanup, and emergency management services. Due to the frequency of flooding, large portions of the watershed, primarily along the main stream corridor, have become subject to blight and/or abandonment of homes and businesses. The stream has been largely neglected, highly channelized, and encroached upon by development and transportation projects. To understand the prolonged negative effects of continued flash flooding of Saw Mill Run, a social and economic analysis of the main stream corridor was performed for the purposes of understanding the economic disinvestment and related social injustices to adjacent neighborhoods. The study was broken into two phases over a year and half: Phase I (completed in 2023): This phase included the development of a detailed two dimensional rain-on-grid watershed flood prediction model, a flood damage and socioeconomic assessment of the existing properties, and an economic green benefits screening assessment of the parcels corridor. Phase II (ongoing and due to be complete in early 2024): This phase consists of a more rigorous and in depth future economic evaluation of two site locations for potential nature based flood plain strategies. Strategies include detailed hydraulic modeling to determine flood reduction and water quality benefits along with an economic impact analysis to the local watershed and the surrounding area. As part of Phase I, flood inundation extents of the study area were determined using a full watershed two-dimensional rain-on-grid flood model developed using HEC-RAS 6.2 and publicly available USGS QL2 LiDAR data. The results of the model were compared against historical flood reports to confirm predicted flood extents and validate the model results. Using the validated model, the model was then simulated for a range of return frequency rainfall events under both present day and future climate scenarios to determine the limits of flood inundation within the study area. The modeled flood inundation levels were then used in conjunction with existing building structure GIS data to develop flood damage frequency curves and annualized flooding costs. In addition to the flooding economic impacts, existing socioeconomic data was compiled to determine social justice impacts of flooding in the study area. This included demographic, employment, and county tax assessor's parcel data to understand property values and associated economic output in the corridor. Results indicate social justice areas, high vacancy, and low property values are correlated with the flooding results. Property values in the flood prone areas are shown to be reduced in comparison to the Allegheny County average. On average commercial and residential properties in the study area were 50% lower in value as compared to the County wide average indicating reduced desirability for new and redevelopment efforts due to reoccurring flooding. Using the baseline flooding inundation mapping results and the socioeconomic results, parcel locations were prioritized for potential nature-based solutions using a GIS based economic greening benefits screening analysis using FEMA approved approaches. The economic greening benefit screening analysis helped identify initial locations within the study area where the potential economic greening benefits exceeded the property acquisition value of the parcel. Results indicated flood prone vacant property clusters are the most advantageous location for potential future floodplain greening strategies. Using the green benefits screening analysis, two focus areas with high vacancy and high greening benefit to cost acquisition ratios were chosen for the development of nature based floodplain strategies as part of the Phase II portion of the project. As part of Phase II (to be complete early 2024) conceptual design workshops will be held for each of the focus areas to identify and prioritize floodplain nature based strategies and economic redevelopment opportunities. Strategies will be specifically tailored for each site and the needs of the surrounding community based on feedback from the design workshops. The flood mitigation strategies will be inserted into rain-on-grid watershed flood model to estimate flood damage reduction economic benefits using both present day and future climate change projections. Within each focus area, softer economic benefits (social and environmental) will be estimated using IMPLAN economic modeling software. These economic benefits included potential increased property values, increased tax revenues, value of economic redevelopment/increased jobs/economic output, and potential ecosystem benefits such as value of increased green space, carbon/air pollution reductions, improved water quality, recreational opportunities, and heat island effects. This presentation will provide conference attendees with approaches for how to build an economic case for community driven nature based floodplain strategies using socioeconomic data and state of the art flood modeling software tools for a real world case study in a densely built urban watershed.

This paper was presented at the WEF Collection Systems and Stormwater Conference, April 9-12, 2024.

SpeakerBatroney, Thomas

Presentation time

13:30:00

14:00:00

Session time

13:30:00

16:45:00

SessionWorkforce Development, Recruitment, and Community Collaboration

Session number22

Session locationConnecticut Convention Center, Hartford, Connecticut

TopicCombined Sewer Overflow, Community Engagement, Consent Orders, Cultural Change, Environmental Injustice, Environmental, Social, and governance, Equity, Flooding, Green Infrastructure, Public Education/Information/Communication, Stakeholder Engagement, Sustainability And Social Responsibility, Triple Bottom Line Plus, Wet Weather, Workforce Issues / Professional Development

Author(s)

Batroney, Thomas

Author(s)T. Batroney1, L. Brown2

Author affiliation(s)HDR 1; Watersheds of South Pittsburgh 2

SourceProceedings of the Water Environment Federation

Document typeConference Paper

PublisherWater Environment Federation

Print publication date Apr 2024

DOI10.2175/193864718825159376

Volume / Issue

Content sourceCollection Systems and Stormwater Conference

Word count21

Rethinking the Application of Design Storms for Flood Resilience Planning

Abstract

The foundation of flood resilience starts with an understanding of historical local rainfall patterns and future climate precipitation conditions. Across the nation, storm events are becoming more intense and spatially concentrated in what have been deemed in the industry as so-called 'cloudburst' rain events. Arguably, these storm events have become one of the most pressing engineering challenges facing 21st century stormwater engineers. The question big cities to small towns across the nation are grappling with is how do we go about accounting for these storms within our design evaluations and future capital plans? Before beginning any detailed engineering analysis, the starting point in the flood resilience planning process should begin with an up front scientific analysis of the rainfall for the region in question. This presentation will outline a four step approach for how engineers and water resources professionals can go about performing scientifically sound rainfall analysis for flood resilience planning. The presentation will draw upon real-world examples from flood resilience planning work in East Lansing, Michigan and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The four step approach to analyzing local rainfall data within the presentation will cover 1.HISTORICAL RAINFALL TRENDING ANALYSIS This analysis will cover how to go about analyzing historical trends using long term rainfall data. Namely how trending analysis should be applied to rainfall using decades worth of data. The presentation will provide attendees with how to go about accessing publicly available long term rainfall data sources and statistical approaches for informing flood resilience planning. Communicating and visualizing results from the trending analysis is one of the best tools for demonstrating increasing rainfall patterns to the public and elected officials to justify the need for planning for future climate rainfall conditions. The results can then be applied to inform design storm selection for alternatives analysis. 2.UPDATING IDF CURVES The second step is to understand the accuracy of rainfall intensity duration frequency (IDF) curves for the study area. Traditional point based IDF estimates can vary from location to location within a single region and it is important to understand if current IDF estimates are up to date and include more recent data for flood events. Many engineers are using out of date IDF curves that may not include more recent flooding events that could drive estimates higher. The presentation will provide attendees statistical approaches for updating IDF curves using local rainfall data. The importance of the 'period of record' and how it influences IDF estimates and uncertainty will be discussed. 3.CUSTOM RAINFALL PATTERN DISTRIBUTIONS USING GAUGE ADJUSTED RADAR RAINFALL The event duration and timing in which cloudburst rainfall events occur is often one of the biggest drivers for flooding. Traditionally, many engineers have relied on publicly available rainfall distributions for flood resilience planning work such as the Soil Conservation Service (SCS) Types I, IA, II, III, etc., Huff and Angel, or NOAA nested distribution patterns. The advent of Next Generation Radar Weather Radar (NEXRAD) has greatly advanced the industry's understanding of the timing, duration, and depth estimates of highly concentrated cloudburst rain events. The presentation will cover how to develop customized rainfall distributions using historical dates of past flooding events, publicly available local rain gauge data, and NEXRAD radar scans to develop gauge adjusted radar rainfall (GARR) data. Using GARR data, customized rainfall distributions specific for the project area can then be used to supplement and enhance publicly available distributions, greatly enhancing the designs and resilience of flood mitigation projects. 4.INCORPORATING FUTURE CLIMATE PROJECTIONS The fourth step in the rainfall analysis is to conduct future rainfall projections using a range of downscaled global climate models (GCMs) for a range of future carbon emissions scenarios. The presentation will discuss available GCMs and how they are applied at local scales to determine future rainfall change factors. Future rainfall change factors are then applied to existing and updated IDF curves to understand potential future increases in rainfall for a given planning horizon. The presentation will discuss important considerations for selecting the most appropriate future climate scenario for flood resilience planning work. Using the four steps outlined above cities and water related agencies can develop a thorough understanding of the rainfall specific to their region. Without this understanding the planning and design of flood mitigation projects has the chance to severely underperform design expectations thereby costing rate payers potentially millions of dollars in investment to fix after systems have been constructed. Rethinking how we approach design storms is crucial to well functioning and resilient stormwater infrastructure.

This paper was presented at WEFTEC 2026 in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Presentation time

14:30:00

15:00:00

Session time

13:30:00

15:00:00

SessionRainfall Design for the Future

Session locationErnest N. Morial Convention Center

TopicClimate Change Adaptation and Metrics, CSO & SSO Planning and Mitigation, Stormwater and Green Infrastructure, Watershed Management, Water Quality, and Groundwater

Author(s)

Batroney, Thomas

Author(s)T. Batroney1

Author affiliation(s)HDR Inc, 1

SourceProceedings of the Water Environment Federation

Document typeConference Paper

PublisherWater Environment Federation

Print publication date Sep 2026

DOI10.2175/193864718825160541

Volume / Issue

Content sourceWEFTEC

Word count11

Description: Unlocking Twitter and High-Resolution Radar Rainfall to Better Understand Urban...

Unlocking Twitter and High-Resolution Radar Rainfall to Better Understand Urban Flooding Patterns and Extents

Abstract

651 flooding tweet locations along with dates and times were extracted using publicly available data on Twitter for Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. The flooding tweet locations were then used to perform statistical analysis of the data. Results indicated that approximately 70% of the flood tweets were spatially located in the southern half of the county. The locations were compared to existing FEMA flood zones and it was determined that 55% of the flood tweet locations were outside designated flood zone areas. The majority of the flood tweets occurred between the months of May and September indicating flash flooding by heat-induced thunderstorms is likely. This hypothesis was tested and confirmed for flood tweet locations within the Saw Mill Run watershed in Allegheny County with 15-minute high-resolution radar rainfall data. Rainfall distribution patterns were calculated for the flood events in Saw Mill Run, which can be used for future planning and design efforts.

SpeakerBatroney, Thomas

Presentation time

11:10:00

11:30:00

Session time

10:30:00

11:30:00

Session#StormwaterData: Using Technology to Inform Program Decisions

Session number317

TopicIntelligent Water, Stormwater, Green Infrastructure, and Wet Weather

Author(s)

T. Batroney