04/15/24 - 66 New Stories - REAL Environmental & Conservation Leadership In PA: http://tinyurl.com/msuwtctm
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Projects Receive Grants To Restore Local Waterways In Chesapeake Bay Watershed
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Thirty-four environmental projects, including six in Pennsylvania, were awarded more than $3.4 million from the Small Watershed Grants Program to help reduce pollution to local streams, creeks and rivers and the Chesapeake Bay.
The grants are funded by the U.S. EPA's Chesapeake Bay Program and a variety of other federal and private partners. They are administered by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.
The Pennsylvania projects include--
-- The Adams County Conservation District received $39,420 from the EPA and USFS to provide technical assistance to streamside landowners in the county. The project will assess nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment concerns, leading to the development of a plan to fix the concerns to improve local water quality in Mummasburg Run, Quaker Run, Beaverdam Creek and Swift Run in Adams County.
-- The Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay, Inc. received $150,000 from EPA and USFS for stream restoration and stormwater education in the Paxton Creek watershed in and around Harrisburg. The project will implement a permitted design to stabilize 640 feet of badly eroded banks of an unnamed tributary of Paxton Creek within a heavily used park and community center.
-- American Rivers, Inc. will use a $75,000 grant from the EPA and USFS for the removal of the Rosegarden Dam and restore riverine habitat in Yellow Breeches Creek near Grantham.
-- The Center for Watershed Protection, Inc. will use $100,000 from the EPA for stormwater retrofits in rural, urban and karst areas of Lancaster County. The grant will provide funds for inventory, training and implementation of these projects.
-- The Lancaster Farmland Trust will use $100,000 from the EPA and Altria to establish a successful streambank-fencing program on Amish farms targeted by the EPA in the Mill Creek watershed in Lancaster County.
-- The Western Pennsylvania Conservancy received a $50,000 EPA grant to reduce nutrient and sediment pollution in Kishacoquillas Creek in Mifflin County. The project will combine BMPs to address agriculture and streambank erosion.
-- Western Pennsylvania Conservancy received a $40,000 EPA grant to secure the brook trout population of Kettle Creek in Tioga, Potter and Clinton Counties. The WPC will work to protect key private lands in the Kettle Creek watershed with conservation easements and fee acquisitions to protect and maintain forests and encourage habitat and water quality restoration.
The funding for the projects was awarded through the Chesapeake Bay Small Watershed Grants Program, which provides grants to nonprofit organizations and local governments working to improve the condition of their local watershed.
The 2010 grant recipients will develop conservation plans in both urban and rural settings, preserve valuable natural lands, and implement on-the-ground and in-the-water restoration practices throughout the Chesapeake Bay watershed.
Many of the projects will employ social media campaigns to fully engage the community in the local restoration and conservation efforts. Some examples of the types of projects funded include:
"Local action is essential to restoring clean water to the region's streams, creeks, rivers and the Chesapeake Bay, and EPA is committed to supporting the efforts of local governments, watershed groups and universities that do incredible work everyday," said Shawn Garvin, EPA Regional Administrator. "Clean water is important to every community, so it's vital that these projects will occur in all six states in the Chesapeake Bay watershed and the District of Columbia."
A list of all grant recipients is available online.
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11/15/2010 |
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