Story and Photo By Joe Zlomek

Commercial real estate developers generally dislike surprises. They want to know all contingencies are planned for, and that the plan works as expected. That may explain why developers also generally dislike the topic of storm water management, according to Patrick G. Considine, an engineer and president of Considine Associates of West Chester PA. 

Storm water's impact on any given property, he says, is often unexpected by owners, and although problems it causes can reasonably be predicted they also can be expensive to fix.

Considine was a guest speaker Friday (March 14, 2008) during the monthly meeting of the Commercial-Industrial Marketing Exchange in Malvern PA. He warned audience members, all of whom had interests in commercial real estate, to anticipate future worries over storm water.

Natural rainfall and snowmelt drainage in years past usually was absorbed into the soil, evaporated into the air, or harmlessly carried away by local streams. But man-made improvements like residential communities, shopping centers and parking lots have increased the amount of run-off, Considine says, to the point where nature's systems aren't sufficient.

Local flooding problems are growing more severe. Creeks and streams swollen with storm water are eroding more land. Less water is filtering through the earth into underground aquifers, Considine adds, because more ground is covered by impervious surfaces like concrete and asphalt. "Where more water flows from upstream sources," he notes, "the problems increase downstream."

Because Pennsylvania is among the states most prone to flooding, Considine reports state agencies in December 2006 began taking a more proactive approach in requiring property owners and developers to deal with storm water and its effects. "The days when you just build on a site, develop a property and hope you don't have flooding issues are done," he says.