ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Nearly $332 million in regional water and wastewater projects on Tuesday passed a Lehigh Valley Planning Commission’s Environment Committee staff review.

Lehigh County Authority’s capital projects, planned from next year through 2030 for both its Allentown and Suburban divisions, “involve evaluating or providing system improvements to provide safe, reliable and efficient service,” according to staff comments.

That, in turn, “supports FutureLV: The Regional Plan actions to ‘improve the utility and mobility infrastructure of the region’ and ‘integrate efficiency measures and emerging technologies,’” according to the comments.

Also, to “protect the quality and quantity of surface water and groundwater.”

Committee members reviewed the more than a dozen projects across LCA’s service area included in the plan. They included treatment plant upgrades, leak detection and lead pipe replacements.

In addition to the city, LCA’s service area includes Emmaus, Macungie, Alburtis, Coplay, Upper and Lower Macungie townships, as well as North and South Whitehall, Salisbury, Whitehall, Upper Milford, Hanover, Weisenberg and Lowhill townships.

New, modified projects

For the Allentown Division, there were four new and one modified water projects under consideration, Environmental Planner Corinne Ruggiero said.

New projects include: Schantz Spring water treatment upgrades; a city leak detection program; water filtration plant facility electrical upgrades; and water filtration plant facility Little Lehigh Intake modifications.

“The one modified water project is the city[‘s] annual water main replacements,” Ruggiero said.

“Review of the lease agreement program was performed by LCA and the city in 2024, where approval was given by the city that allows for the continuation of annual replacement of one mile of water main starting in 2025 up to and including 2028.

“So there will be … four miles of water main to be replaced by 2028.”

There also are three new wastewater projects, including wastewater treatment plant odor control unit No. 24 building replacement, facility electrical upgrades and effluent pump station upgrades.

All Allentown projects must be reviewed and approved by the city.

There were three new water projects for the authority’s Suburban Division. They were small water generator replacement, a leak detection program and a lead service inventory program.

For wastewater projects, there were two new projects and three modified projects.

New projects include upgrades to the Spring Creek Pump Station and wastewater small systems generator replacement.

Modified projects include a long-term upgrade/replacement of the industrial pretreatment plant at 7676 Industrial Road in Upper Macungie Township.

“This project assumes only three major industries are participating in the pretreatment replacement: Keurig/Dr. Pepper, SunOpta and Coca-Cola,” Ruggiero said.

“Boston Beer and Ocean Spray will treat their wastewater on site with their own facilities and bypass the pretreatment plant via existing sewer interceptors to Kline’s Island Wastewater Treatment Plant.”

Other modified projects include the signatory [infiltration and inflow] investigation and remediation program, as well as improvements to the Lynn Township Wastewater Treatment Plant.

14 down, one to go

Of the total for LCA’s five-year capital plan, $91 million is earmarked for projects in the Kline’s Island Sewer System, or KISS, regional wastewater plan.

That includes $53 million for projects at Kline’s Island Wastewater Treatment Plant, $8 million for Western Lehigh Interceptor projects and $30 million for sewer rehabilitation projects.

The KISS plan is a regional Act 537 plan in the works for years aimed at addressing overflow issues and aging infrastructure.

Act 537 plans, required by all municipalities, “provide for the resolution of existing sewage disposal problems, provide for the future sewage disposal needs of new land development, and provide for future sewage disposal needs of the municipality,” according to the state Department of Environmental Protection website.

Under the plan, the 10-year estimated cost sits at $318 million. However, officials have prioritized the most-needed projects and have crafted a five-year plan, with a projected price tag of $135 million.

Projects not budgeted in LCA’s capital plan will either be done by the municipality, or will be completed after 2030.

As of May, that plan had been submitted to local officials for review — and that process is almost complete, Philip M. DePoe, a senior planning engineer at LCA, said during Tuesday’s meeting.

“The [Act] 537 plan is almost ready to be submitted to the state very, very, very, very, very, very, soon,” DePoe said.

“I need one more resolution. I have 14 out of 15 resolutions … DEP is going to try to resolve that situation for me, and then I’ll have all 15, and then it goes in within the next week or two is my hope.”

Upper Milford Township has yet to pass a resolution for the plan. However, officials are expected to review the plan Oct. 2 for possible approval.

The plan passed a staff review by the LVPC’s Environment Committee in June.

Trail inventory, climate action plan

Also during the meeting, Environmental Planner Christian Martinez and Evan Gardi, a transportation planner, spoke about the Lehigh Valley Trail Inventory and Gap Analysis, an initiative to inventory existing and planned trails across the region, as well as analyze gaps.

Earlier this month, planners met with The Link, a coalition of groups across the region that support and promote multi-use trails.

“Link members are some of the foremost experts on trails in the Lehigh Valley, and they provided feedback on progress we have made thus far on the trail connection strategy,” Martinez said.

“We printed a draft inventory map of regional trails … and Link members made comments, edits by marking up the map as well as identifying their top trail gaps in the region in their opinion.

“The Link coalition is a key regional resource and provides critical feedback to enhance the trail connection strategy document.”

From the coalition’s comments, planners updated the map, which they shared at Tuesday’s meeting.

It has four separate trail layers: open, conceptual, under-construction and water trails.

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Lehigh Valley Planning Commission Environment Committee

“By updating this map, we will be able to examine the kind of growth in the regional trail network since the last 2013 update and see how our top trail gaps have changed,” Gardi said.

“The regional trail map will help trail users identify trails near them. Local governments, nonprofits and other stakeholders can plan for the future trail development and apply for grants, as well as help us at the LVPC and our land development plan and ordinance review process.”

Officials said they expect to publish the inventory in November, following a review of a draft in October.

In addition, a draft of the Lehigh Valley Regional Climate Action Plan, or RCAP, is in the design and layout phase, Martinez said. Officials expect to present the full draft to the committee in October.

Before the RCAP, the commission created the Priority Climate Action plan, focused on transportation decarbonization. It was released in February 2024.