Communication & Collaboration: Critical success factors for regional sewer planning in Pennsylvania

Lehigh County Authority is a public water and wastewater utility serving 270,000 people in the City of Allentown and surrounding communities in eastern Pennsylvania. Since its founding in 1966, LCA consolidated many small developer-built or municipal-run systems in the region and grew into one of the largest regional municipal authorities in the Commonwealth. LCA also became a regional partner in a sewer network known as the Kline's Island Sewer System, with all flows centrally treated at the 40 MGD Kline's Island Wastewater Treatment Plant in Allentown. The KISS connects 15 municipalities' sewer systems, with LCA's interceptors and pump stations as the backbone of the system. However, each municipality owns their own pipe network, leading to a patchwork of operational and capital approaches. In 2007, an EPA Administrative Order was issued against the KISS due to excessive leakage leading to sanitary sewer overflows during wet-weather events. Solving the problem proved to be complicated. Major barriers included: -Fragmentation of service among 15 KISS municipalities -Decades-old intermunicipal agreements that don't reflect current regulatory requirements -Income disparities across the County, leading to differing views on capital investments -Competing objectives: planning for growth vs. managing costs -Changing regulatory requirements over time Over nearly two decades, LCA and the KISS municipalities struggled to develop a path forward. In the mid-2010s, a new approach started to take shape, one that focused on collaboration and developing a unified approach in communicating with regulatory agencies. As a result of this approach, EPA lifted the Administrative Order in 2019. The KISS municipalities' problems were not solved, however. A record-breaking period of excessive rainfall in the Lehigh Valley occurred in 2019, causing major increases in sewage flows and SSOs within the KISS. By mid-2019, the Kline's Island WWTP had exceeded its permit, and a new corrective action plan was needed. LCA and the KISS municipalities began an intensive period of planning in 2021, which concluded in 2025 with the submission of its first-ever regional Sewage Facilities Plan. The plan includes commitments from each of the 15 KISS municipalities to manage their sewer rehab programs effectively, collaborate on regional programs such as flow monitoring and management, and share in the cost of regional projects such as pump upgrades at the plant. While solid engineering work (and lots of it!) was completed during the five-year planning period, the key success factors for achieving a regional sewer plan were communication, collaboration and trust-building. In this presentation, LCA representatives will review the approaches taken to engage with municipal leaders, elected officials, media, and the public to identify and address the barriers and achieve this regional plan. More work is required, but the KISS municipalities are on their way!