By Seth Loht, GIS Specialist

Blossburg is a rural community located in northern Pennsylvania in Tioga County. Blossburg originated as a coal mining town in the early 1800’s and the industry thrived for nearly 150 years. Coal mining has given way to natural gas in recent decades and Blossburg has experienced several ‘boom and bust’ periods from this industry. The population of the borough was 1,538 in 2010, decreasing from 1,956 in 1960. The median household income level was $34,924 in 2010, more than $15,000 lower than the Pennsylvania state median.

Many rural communities in Pennsylvania face significant technical, managerial, and financial issues with their water and wastewater systems. Blossburg Borough is fortunate to have very competent leadership and a capable staff, but often faces issues with aging infrastructure and lack of funding. Additionally, the water and sewer authority needed an updated asset inventory and updated water and wastewater system maps.

In 2014, USDA Rural Community Development Initiative awarded RCAP Solutions a grant to provide GPS and GIS mapping services to a number of rural low income communities including Blossburg. The borough manager and public works department have been very involved and supportive of every aspect of the RCAP project. Over a four week period in spring 2016, RCAP and the Blossburg Borough authority staff completed a comprehensive GPS inventory of the water and wastewater system. This data was then transferred to a GIS mapping system. RCAP Solutions also partnered with the Tioga County GIS Department and Tioga County Source Water Protection Coalition to create an online water and wastewater web application to view the authority’s data.

This project allowed Blossburg Borough to have an accurate, detailed inventory of their assets, as well as access to an online GIS platform to view their system maps. This will help them immensely with the effectiveness of their day to day operational work and will also assist with long term planning. Additionally, RCAP Solutions was able to network and establish important relationships with several Tioga County departments and has become very involved with the Source Water Protection Coalition.