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Hello partners for water quality!
We have much news to share on progress by state, local, and sector partners to reduce nutrient and sediment pollution and improve local water quality in Pennsylvania’s share of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed.
For more details on the Phase 3 Watershed Implementation Plan (WIP) and Countywide Action Planning, visit the Phase 3 WIP website. For a broader educational look at nutrient and sediment pollution in local streams, rivers, and lakes in the watershed, including tips and success stories, visit Healthy Waters, Healthy Communities. Please consider how you might join in or help support this work. Anyone interested in their county’s Phase 3 WIP County Wide Action plan can sign up to get involved. And help spread the word! Share this newsletter or the subscribe page. — DEP Bureau of Watershed Restoration and Nonpoint Source Management
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DEP Bureau of Watershed Restoration and Nonpoint Source Management (BWRNSM)
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DEP’s Chesapeake Bay Partnership Section (CBPS) presentation on watershed prioritization for the Chesapeake Bay Program Submersion Series
Heidel described how to select small agricultural watersheds for rapid restoration, and how to restore them. Some key takeaways from the selection process presentation include:
- select small watersheds under 25 square miles, with minimum impairments, active restoration partners and willing landowners;
- analyze watersheds using DEPs 2022 Integrated Report and other modeling tools to determine impairment magnitude and location, and identify key BMP opportunities; and
- develop a plan, find funding and implement high value BMPs in collaboration with restoration partners and landowners.
DEP has developed Watershed Restoration FAQs to help with the overall process. This process fits nicely into CAP, Most Effective Basin and WIP implementation efforts by creatively using multiple funding sources while working with local conservation districts, conservation organizations and landowners to restore local watersheds and improve local, and Bay, water quality. For more information, contact Scott Heidel at scheidel@pa.gov.
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Programs and Projects by Local, State and Federal Partners
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DEP outlines plans to ramp up PFAS monitoring
Following a joint United States Geological Survey (USGS) and DEP study revealing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in surface water across the state, DEP is continuing to take action to address these forever chemicals – ramping up efforts across Pennsylvania to monitor water resources and using the study to develop standards for surface water.
The DEP and USGS report published the findings of a 2019 survey studying the prevalence and distribution of PFAS across surface waters in Pennsylvania. The publication summarized the results from 161 streams across Pennsylvania and found 76 percent of 161 streams contained at least one type of PFAS.
Based on the study’s results, DEP updated its surface water monitoring strategy for PFAS and is currently taking more frequent samples in areas of concern. Targeted areas include locations where elevated PFAS concentrations were found in 2019 as well as locations further upstream within the same watersheds. This monitoring will help DEP develop surface water quality standards for PFAS that will allow DEP to limit PFAS discharges to surface waters through industrial discharge permits.
DEP is also planning to begin a monitoring program that would require some wastewater treatment plants to monitor for PFAS discharges. This will help DEP track where PFAS chemicals may be entering Pennsylvania’s rivers and streams through wastewater treatment plant discharges, which may include wastewater discharges from industrial entities known or suspected to discharge PFAS in their waste streams.
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Updated DEP Chapter 105 Program webpages released
DEP’s Division of Wetlands Encroachments and Training has overhauled and updated the Chapter 105 Program webpages. The new format will allow for new content to be added as needed. Highlights include:
- Forms, Publications, and Guidance: central public repository for all 105-related documents (permit forms, guidance, relevant DEP policies, publications, etc.).
- Permitting and Authorizations: describes permit types, with subpages for General Permits and emergency permitting. More subpages will be added in future.
- Technical and Educational Resources: includes other educational information.
- Intro to Ponds and Chapter 105: ponds webpage which replaces the Ponds fact sheet.
- Storm and Flooding Information: a page that will contain all of the 105-related storm information. More will be added to this page in the near future.
- Program Updates: program update posts.
- Contacts: provides information about review process, with contact information for each office, and includes a new delegated county conservation district map.
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Pennsylvania invests $8.6 million to ensure 35 farms covering 2,645 acres in 18 counties will remain farms forever
The common sense, bipartisan budget Governor Josh Shapiro signed last month makes critical investments in supporting Pennsylvania farmers in their work to conserve resources, investing in equipment purchases, business planning, and farm management tools they need to innovate and continue to grow.
Pennsylvania Chesapeake Bay counites with newly preserved farms include Adams, Berks, Chester, Columbia, Cumberland, Dauphin, Lackawanna, Lancaster, Lebanon, Lycoming, Union, and York.
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Shapiro Administration secured $100 million from Monsanto to help Pennsylvanians impacted by environmental damages
The settlement recovers costs that the Commonwealth has incurred because of PCB contamination and will be used for further remediation efforts. Under the agreement, $8 million will be used specifically for communities impacted by the spread of PCBs. That fund will be invested consistent with the Administration’s commitment to promoting environmental justice across the Commonwealth. The remaining funds will be allocated amongst the agencies that have been responsible for helping to combat PCB pollution in Pennsylvania, including DEP, Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR), Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission and Pennsylvania Game Commission.
“The Department has spent years protecting Pennsylvanians from PCBs,” said DEP Secretary Rich Negrin. “By securing this settlement, DEP is holding Monsanto accountable for what it did to Pennsylvania’s water and making sure that Monsanto is paying for the work the Commonwealth has done to keep its water clean. This agreement demonstrates our commitment to protecting the rights and resources of all Pennsylvanians.”
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Shapiro Administration awards $38.76 million in grants for environmental restoration projects
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Floodplains provide substantial quantifiable economic benefits
The United States Geological Survey (USGS), in partnership with the William Penn Foundation and the Smithsonian Institute, quantified the capacity of floodplains surrounding streams and small rivers in the Chesapeake Bay and Delaware River watersheds to retain sediment and associated nutrients and flood waters. Results from this study indicate that floodplains provide substantial benefits by trapping sediments and nutrients, with a net annual benefit of at least $100 million in the Chesapeake Bay watershed and $24 million in the Delaware River watershed.
An estimated monetary value was placed on floodplain sediment and nutrient retention services by integrating field data collection, geospatial analyses, modeling and economic approaches. The service was estimated as the amount of nitrogen found in sediment that is deposited on the floodplain and eroded from streambanks. Then wastewater treatment facility costs, for the lowest treatment level, were used to provide a conservative estimate of the value of floodplain sediment and nutrient retention benefits. Sediment and nutrient retention values were aggregated to the entire study area, river basins, states and counties.
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A Local Government Guide to the Chesapeake Bay has a new home!
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USDA awards PA Partnership $7.85 million for a farmland preservation and climate change mitigation project
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced it is investing $7.85 million in a locally driven, public-private partnership to address climate change and protect agricultural land. The Farmland Preservation and Climate Change Mitigation Project is a partnership between the Natural Resources Conservation Service, Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, Clearwater Conservancy, Western Pennsylvania Conservancy and the Rodale Institute.
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Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful publishes Healing the Planet 2022 final report
The GIANT Company and Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful released the Healing the Planet 2022 final report in September. Healing the Planet 2022 was a competitive grant program in support of projects aimed at improving the health and quality of waterways to help protect water resources and improve the overall health of communities.
The program awarded 45 grants ranging from $2,500 to $10,000, totaling $300,000. Nineteen of these projects were located in Pennsylvania’s Chesapeake Bay watershed. Funding for the grants was provided by customers at GIANT, MARTIN'S and GIANT Heirloom Market stores who rounded up their grocery purchase to the nearest dollar from March through May 2022.
Funded projects included stream health and water quality monitoring activities, marine debris removal, stormwater/MS4 education initiatives, lake/pond ecology, watershed education activities, watershed landscape measures, rain gardens, streambank restoration, erosion control, AMD remediation, rain barrels, pollution abatement and source water protection.
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Gettysburg College awarded NOAA grant to improve watershed education and training
Gettysburg College’s Advancing Science program was awarded the Partnership for Adams County Environmental Literacy (PACE) grant by the National Oceanic Atmospheric Association (NOAA) through the Bay Watershed Education and Training (B-WET) program. This initiative develops environmental educational opportunities through teacher professional development based in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. With the PACE grant, the Advancing Science program aims to continue working with Pennsylvania teachers and administrators on new approaches to environmental education within our region over the next two years.
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New conservation easement guides from WeConservePA address carbon issues
Three new guides are now available from WeConservePA addressing carbon issues in conservation easements:
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Get ready for Riparian Buffer Month
October is Riparian Buffer Month, and an excellent time to plant trees. Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay and Penn State have scheduled quite a few tree plantings across central Pennsylvania in October. Why are planting trees important for clean water? Rob Frank, Forests Projects Coordinator at the Alliance explains, “Planting trees is one of the best things that can be done to improve water quality. The trees hold in soil and absorb runoff, stabilizing the ground and preventing pollutants from reaching our local streams and rivers.”
Every tree makes a difference! To date, the Alliance has planted 700 acres of new forest and could not have achieved this without the hands-on work of amazing volunteers. By planting riparian buffers, the Alliance is helping to reduce the nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment runoff that runs downstream and ends up in the Chesapeake Bay. Help achieve clean water by planting a tree this October. Volunteer sign ups can be found at Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay and PSU.
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Maryland’s Conowingo Pay for Success Program now available in Pennsylvania
The State of Maryland is providing over $20 million to purchase water quality outcomes to meet the nutrient reduction goals of the Conowingo Watershed Implementation Plan (WIP). The funds will be administered by the Susquehanna River Basin Commission and will target projects that reduce nutrient loads entering the Chesapeake Bay.
- Cost-effective nitrogen reductions: Maryland is seeking the most cost-effective reductions of nitrogen entering waterways that lead to the Susquehanna River, which provides 55% of the Chesapeake Bay’s freshwater. Projects will be quantified using the Chesapeake Assessment Scenario Tool (CAST) and verified using the Chesapeake Bay Program's Best Management verification guidance. Cost-effective proposals involving dredging are specifically encouraged to apply.
- The Susquehanna watershed: Projects located anywhere in the Susquehanna watershed are eligible. Those in the most effective basins developed by the Conowingo WIP, in Harford and Cecil Counties of Maryland, and/or in the sub-watersheds of Deer Creek, Conowingo Creek or Octoraro Creek in Pennsylvania will receive additional prioritization.
- Proposals due in December: A formal request for proposals is expected to be released in October with a December due date. If interested in learning more, join the RFP mailing list and register for a webinar.
- Groundbreaking: Pay for Success contracting, allowed under Maryland's Conservation Finance Act, is a proven method of procuring verified environmental outcomes more cost-effectively. The Conservation Finance Act also creates a framework for Maryland, with other states’ support, to finance projects upstream and be able to count those nutrient reductions against its obligations. This program will be the first known example of one state purchasing environmental outcomes produced in another.
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Pennsylvania Association of Conservation Districts (PACD) Growing Greener funding for reimbursement toward agriculture plan development still available
Provided through a DEP Growing Greener award, PACD has funds available for Ag Plan Reimbursement Program, which is used to offset costs associated with Manure Management, Nutrient Management, Conservation and Agriculture Erosion and Sediment (Ag E&S) Plans. To date, this statewide project has generated more than 340 plans encompassing almost 46,000 acres.
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Community Forest Program webinar
The USDA Forest Service’s Community Forest Program is a competitive grant program that provides financial assistance to tribes, local governments and qualified conservation non-profit organizations to acquire and establish community forests that provide community benefits. This webinar will be focused on the role of land trusts in facilitating successful projects through the Community Forest Program.
The webinar will take place on October 11 from 2:00–3:30 pm. Questions about this or other CFP webinars can be directed to Hannah Bergemann at SM.FS.CFP@usda.gov.
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DCNR will host annual virtual grant workshop for recreation and conservation projects
This free, virtual workshop will be held on November 16, from 9am-12pm, and will help applicants develop project ideas in preparation for submitting a grant application to the Community Conservation Partnerships Program (C2P2). DCNR Bureau of Recreation and Conservation staff will present grant program selection criteria, review program priorities, discuss eligible project types and answer project-specific questions.
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Funding available for CREP mini-grants through 2024
More than $80,000 is available for Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) mini-grants. The PA Association of Conservation Districts (PACD) is accepting mini-grant applications up to $3,000 from conservation districts to implement educational and outreach activities that support and extend CREP work. Projects should focus on CREP enrollment, re-enrollment and/or CREP maintenance. Applications will be accepted and approved on a rolling basis until funds are expended. Project completion and final report deadline is August 31, 2024.
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EPA is accepting applications for Environmental Education grants
On September 14, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that up to $3.6 million in funding for locally focused environmental education grants is available under the 2023 Environmental Education (EE) Local Grant Program. The deadline for applications is November 8. EPA will award grants in each of EPA’s ten regions, between $50,000-$100,000 each, for a total of 30-40 grants nationwide. The program includes support for projects that reflect the intersection of environmental issues with climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies, preventing future water quality and human health issues, in addition to other environmental topics. Funded projects will increase public awareness of those topics and help participants to develop the skills needed to make informed decisions.
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PA Agriculture Energy Efficiency Rebate Program is accepting applications
The Pennsylvania Agriculture Energy Efficiency Rebate Program is accepting applications for funding to assist agricultural producers with the purchase of LED lighting systems, efficient ventilation equipment and efficient milk pumping and cooling equipment for their farming operations. The rebate will be offered on a first-come, first-served basis until December 31, 2023. Approved applicants will be issued a voucher, and can submit a payment request form and documentation to PDA to receive rebate funds after installing eligible equipment.
The following rebates are offered:
- $7,500 rebate for LED lighting systems (up to 50% of equipment purchase costs).
- $7,500 rebate for efficient ventilation (up to 50% of equipment purchase costs).
- $7,500 rebate for dairy and refrigeration or cooling equipment (up to 50% of equipment purchase costs).
- $7,500 for variable frequency drives (up to 50% of equipment purchase costs).
- Installation costs of up to $2,000 may be included for each technology category.
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DEP accepting 2023 Small Business Advantage grant applications
DEP’s 2023 Small Business Advantage Grant is now accepting applications for at least $1 million in available funds. This grant program aims to provide small Pennsylvania businesses with grant funds for projects that increase energy efficiency, reduce pollution or protect our waterways. Many different types of small businesses, from manufacturing to retail to agriculture, may be eligible for funding under this program. Funding is awarded on a first-come, first-served basis.
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Chesapeake Gateways 2023-24 grant cycle is now open
Chesapeake Getaways is pleased to announce that their grant application cycle is open until November 3 for the second round of Chesapeake Gateways and Water Trails Network grants.
There is approximately $1,000,000 available and individual projects can anticipate an estimated range of $25,000 to $150,000 per project.
Projects must be located within the Chesapeake Bay watershed and clearly identify a connection to one or both of the following strategic themes:
- Advancing a major inclusive interpretive initiative with an equity lens
- Promoting resilient communities and landscapes through tourism, sustainability, conservation and local economies.
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PA Organization for Watersheds & Rivers now accepting applications for Statewide Waterway Access mini grants
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USDA invests $65 million available for conservation and climate action on private lands
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced the availability of $65 million through two funding opportunities for new tools, approaches, practices and technologies to further natural resource conservation on private lands through the Conservation Innovation Grants (CIG) program. Of this funding, $25 million will be delivered through President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, the largest clean energy and climate investment in history, which directed USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) to prioritize CIG On-Farm Trials projects that use diet and feed management to reduce enteric methane emissions from ruminants, as well as other projects that have climate mitigation benefits. Two separate CIG funding opportunities are now available on grants.gov: $50 million through CIG On-Farm Trials and $15 million is available through CIG Classic.
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Stream restoration projects complete in Adams County!
Two Adams County stream restorations have been completed -- one at a local golf course that covered 1,875 linear feet of Toms Creek, and a second with a private landowner covering 145 linear feet. Both projects, along with the three completed earlier in the year, were implemented by the PA Fish and Boat Commission and Flyway Excavating.
The projects involved installing in-stream structures and bank grading to help reduce bank erosion. Adams County is also installing a raingarden project at the Gettysburg Church of the Brethren. This project will contain two raingardens to catch water from the church parking lot and a development behind the church.
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Support for the CAP program from Bradford County
Bradford County Conservation District wrote a letter of support for CAP funding. There are other funding sources that the district uses (EQIP, ACAP, REAP, etc.), but the advantage to CAP is that it is much more nimble and “user friendly” than most all other grants. This allows county partners to work on small projects quickly and efficiently.
Many times, doing these small projects, in the right operations, can do more to help with nutrients and sediment to the Bay than large scale, big funding grants. For instance, the district has worked with a couple landowners where they helped build some fence in areas where it moved livestock away from sensitive areas (surface water). They did this effectively and properly, while saving time and funds. It is sometimes easier to do the smaller projects more quickly and make a big difference, and then be able to move on to the next project. CAP helps to make this process super nimble and easy to use. The district gets things done quicker than they can with a lot of other grants. If we want a lot of BMP’s implemented before 2025, CAP will allow us to do this a lot faster than many other grants will.
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Cumberland County Conservation District partners with Dickinson College
Dickinson College Farm received a $250,000 grant from the Cumberland County Conservation District for a dairy cattle facility as part of significant upgrades for the farm's innovative biodigester project. According to Matt Steiman, the farm's livestock and energy projects manager, the biodigester system will process the manure from 150 local dairy cows plus two tons of food waste daily. The food waste will be sourced from places such as Dickinson's dining services, Project SHARE, Carlisle Area School District, and Molly Pitcher Brewing Company (from which the farm has already processed over 70,000 pounds of spent grain). It will generate about 200,000-300,000 kWh per year of renewable electricity. With that electricity, the farm will power its operations and the planned Farm Lab education facility and sell the remainder back to Met-Ed, a Pennsylvania-based power company. This undertaking is designed to be a roadmap for others to follow. Watch a short overview of the project on YouTube.
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Clean Water Cumberland teaches stream restoration benefits to international students at CAP project (Stuart Park, Yellow Breeches Creek, Dickinson Township)
Cumberland County Conservation District and Planning Department, with the assistance of Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission, the Pennsylvania Council of Trout Unlimited, and Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF), completed a stream restoration and riparian corridor enhancement project at Stuart Park in Dickinson Township in 2022.
The project, funded by CAP block grant and CBF funds, involved the installation of stream habitat structures that restored 800 feet of streambank along Yellow Breeches Creek. In June 2023, another CAP-funded project was completed just west of Stuart Park at Barnitz Church, restoring 650 feet of stream.
On June 29, nearly 40 international students from the Study of the U.S. Institutes (SUSI), hosted by Shippensburg University’s Center for Land Use and Sustainability (CLUS), visited Stuart Park where they learned about the park as an intersection of cultural and natural values, including the historic Barnitz Mill structure. The students offered visions for what the future of the mill could be in relation to community needs and discussed examples of historic re-adaptation in their own countries. They also learned the ’why and how’ of stream restoration and participated in several water quality experiments.
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Stuart Park – Elizabeth Grant, AICP (Cumberland County Planning Department) and SUSI students
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Silver Spring Township farm in Cumberland County was preserved by Natural Lands
KB Kidz Farm, LLC, a group of close-knit siblings and their spouses, believes in conservation and acts upon that conviction. In 2015, they placed 80 acres of land under permanent restriction with Natural Lands so it would remain undeveloped. Earlier this month they deepened their commitment to the environment by placing an additional 53 acres of farmland under conservation easement with Natural Lands.
The farm is located in Silver Spring Township, Cumberland County. The 53-acre property is almost entirely in agricultural use, consisting of a rotation of corn, soybeans and hay. The property includes about 1,110 feet of a first-order tributary of Hogestown Run, a tributary of the Conodoguinet Creek. Conodoguinet Creek, whose Native American name means “a long way with many bends,” flows to the Susquehanna River, which eventually empties into the Chesapeake Bay.
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Photo by Robyn Jeney for Natural Lands.
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Manada Conservancy receives easement on a 41-Acre Dauphin County property
Manada Conservancy staff worked with the Shirk family to sign a conservation easement protecting their family farm and 41-acre property in Dauphin County. The property has been in the family’s care since 1951. It features rolling farm hills and about 13 acres of woodland that provide a healthy streamside buffer along a network of branches that feed the Manada Creek.
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Shirk family farm property, photos provided by Manada Conservancy
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Celebrating Long’s Park’s restored wetlands in Lancaster County
On September 15, representatives from the City of Lancaster, members of the conservation community and local media gathered in Lancaster’s Long’s Park to officially celebrate the completion of a wetlands restoration project that began in 2020.
Long’s Park has long had a problem with flooding from both Route 30 and the park itself, including Long’s Pond. The project to resolve the issue began six years ago and was complete in July. It consists of five components: the forebay, an iron-enhanced sand filter, an upper marsh, a lower marsh and Long’s Pond.
The system filters the runoff into the marsh and wetlands area and gravity takes it downhill to the pond. Pumps in the pond direct the water underground and back uphill to complete the loop. This loop allows an average of 44,000 gallons to process through the system but in a rare storm, up to a million gallons of water can be contained at a time.
The project also solves issues addressed in the Chesapeake Bay Pollution Reduction Plan, which calls for a reduction in phosphorus, nitrogen and sediment levels by 2025.
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Courtesy of Lancaster Clean Water Partners
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USGS Super Gage Event in Lebanon County
Lebanon County Conservation district has collaborated with USGS and NRCS to install a real time, 24-hour super gage water quality monitor on the Swatara Creek as it exits the County. This monitor constantly gathers data on water temperature, pH, turbidity, nitrogen content and more. This information is vital in determining water quality and will significantly enhance the county’s ability to supervise and maintain the health of our watersheds. A super gage event will be held on October 17 from 10:00 –12:00, which will take place at Boathouse Park in Hershey. This event will educate the public and interested parties on the super gage installed on the Swatara Creek and will speak to the importance of water quality monitoring.
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Lebanon County Conservation District holds CREP Workshop
The Lebanon County Conservation District used a CREP mini-grant to offer a field day that included a riparian buffer planting as part of a CREP education and outreach event. Nineteen volunteers attended to learn about CREP, specifically the installation and maintenance of riparian buffers. CREP resources, such as fact sheets and brochures, were distributed.
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Successful landowner partnership in Union County
The Union County Conservation District recently completed construction on a waterway, reinforced access roads and a bale pad on a Mennonite landowner’s property that borders the Lewisburg/Mifflinburg bike trail. Past efforts to work with this landowner had been unsuccessful for five years. When the conservation district started receiving complaints from trail users concerned the sediment leaving the farmer’s property, entering the trail and then washing off into a ditch, the district continued to reach out and was ultimately successful in working with the landowner to accept CAP funding to install three sediment-controlling BMPs on his property.
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Trail now open at Mills Creek Falls Nature Preserve in York County
The Lancaster Conservancy announced the opening of Mill Creek Falls Nature Preserve in York County with two new hiking trails, one of which is universally accessible for those with strollers, wheelchairs, walkers, or other mobility devices.
Mill Creek Falls Nature Preserve includes a 0.7-mile trail through forest of hemlock, tulip poplar and rhododendron that connects to the regional Mason-Dixon Trail, as well as a universal access trail that provides a 0.8-mile out-and-back hike on a crushed stone path that takes visitors through mixed-hardwood upland forest. The 97-acre Mill Creek Falls Nature Preserve protects upland forest, waterfalls and two tributaries to the Susquehanna River. In addition to being adjacent to the scenic Mason-Dixon Trail, it is also located between two other Conservancy preserves – Conowingo Pond Nature Preserve and McCalls Ferry Nature Preserve – and is near Brookfield Renewable’s Lock 12 recreation area.
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Mill Creek Falls Nature Preserve ribbon cutting (Photo by Avery Van Etten)
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York County floodplain mitigation in Dover Borough
Dover is a small community of less than 2,000 residents. The community aims to restore a floodplain to its pre-settlement conditions. With $5.83 million in FEMA funding, the project will remove excess sediment, improve groundwater connectivity and create a vast stream-wetland floodplain complex. The work will restore the stream channel and floodplain wetlands along nearly 8,000 feet of Little Conewago Creek to historical natural conditions by removing legacy sediments deposited by human activities to create a dynamic riverine wetland floodplain complex. In its current condition, the Little Conewago Creek exhibits extreme channel incision and bank erosion representing a significant source of sediment and nutrient pollution into the watershed. The confined channel also contributes to local problematic flooding.
This project will restore and preserve a 38-acre riparian corridor, including roughly 15 acres of riverine wetlands representing critical habitat for threatened and endangered species; reduce sediment loading by nearly 1,000,000 pounds/year and reduce nitrogen loading by over 4,000 pounds/year; help landowners by preventing land loss due to bank erosion currently estimated at .19 acres/year along the restoration reach; mitigate local flood frequency and intensity by creating over 180,000 cubic yards of additional floodplain storage through legacy sediment removal; connect public spaces on either side of the creek to provide the community with recreational and educational opportunities in the restored natural setting; and save Dover Township over $5,000,000 in fulfilling federally-mandated MS4 requirements compared to replacement project costs to achieve comparable water quality benefits (without grant award).
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Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, 400 Market Street, Harrisburg, PA 17101
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