Hilary Hirtle

Wolf Run, a tributary of the West Branch Susquehanna River in Lycoming County, is designated as a High-Quality Cold Water Fishery and as a Migratory Fishery. Given its particular status, Wolf Run is provided with special protection to protect its water quality. However, streambank erosion and received agricultural runoff from surrounding farms has threatened to disrupt Wolf Run’s unique aquatic ecosystem and affecting its water quality.

Funding from the Environmental Stewardship Fund has provided Lycoming County Conservation District with $292,206 to improve water quality in Wolf Run by installing best management practices (BMPs) to reduce soil erosion and nutrient-laden runoff from the farmstead and pasture areas. Proposed BMPs include a manure storage facility, heavy use area protection, roof runoff structures, underground outlets, diversion, rock-lined waterway, and manure storage decommissioning.

In September 2020, Cameron County Conservation District built a manure storage building at Junior Grimone’s farm in North Creek. The project was funded by an Environmental Stewardship Fund (Growing Greener) Grant received by Headwaters Resource Conservation and Development Council. The new manure storage building allows for the manure from the pigs on the Grimone Farm to be stored under a covered roof out of the rain and the elements. It eliminates nutrient runoff from the former manure storage area that was entering North Creek during heavy rain events.

The new manure storage building will also allow the Grimone Farm to store the manure throughout winter so that it can be applied during the growing season in the spring, when the nutrients can be best utilized by the crops. By applying the manure during the spring growing season, it reduces the risk of runoff carrying manure from the fields into nearby waterways, while optimizing the fertility benefit of the manure and reducing the costs for purchasing and applying synthetic fertilizers. The manure storage building was constructed by James Hart Construction of Smethport.

Located in Crawford County, Conneaut Lake is known as the largest natural glacier lake within the state. A popular destination among recreational boaters, Conneaut Lake is also a haven for fishing, water skiing, and swimming.

However, as Conneaut Lake is noted on the EPA’s Integrated Waters List for having excessive nutrient (particularly phosphorous) loads, improving the water quality of Conneaut Lake is essential to ensuring the continued economic prosperity of the communities surrounding the lake and its watershed.

In 2014, Crawford County Conservation District was awarded a grant from the Environmental Stewardship Fund (Growing Greener) to develop a Conneaut Lake Watershed Implementation Plan (WIP) on behalf of Conneaut Lake Aquatic Management Association. With the development phase of the plan now complete, focus has shifted to assist agencies, organizations, and municipalities surrounding Conneaut Lake and its watershed in obtaining federal and state funding to implement management strategies to prevent the continuation of non-point source pollutants from entering the lake and compromising its water quality.

According to the EPA, too much phosphorous within water can result in the excess growth of aquatic plants and algae blooms. This can result in a decreased level of dissolved oxygen within the water supply, hindering the levels that are necessary to support and sustain aquatic life.

The COVID-19 pandemic didn’t stop Bradford County Conservation District’s watershed program. Staff members complete surveyed, designed, and constructed 15 stream rehabilitation projects. With the cooperation of partners, these 15 projects resulted in nearly 1 mile of stabilized streams that prevented approximately 3,400 tons of sediment, 8,500 lbs of N (nitrogen), and 3,400 lbs of P (phosphorus) from entering Bradford County waterways, and subsequently, the Chesapeake Bay. The major funding source for stream work in 2020 was provided by the Environmental Stewardship Fund grants (Growing Greener, which provided funding to complete targeted work in the Satterlee and Wysox Creek Watersheds, as well as for work throughout Bradford County through the County Stream Initiative Program. The Bradford County Commissioners, in partnership with the Bradford County Conservation District were able to complete survey, design and construction of 10 sites where severe stream erosion was threatening a structure or sole access to a residence.

Additional funding for these projects was provided by the DEP Stream Improvement Program, which provides funding throughout the Commonwealth for primary residences or businesses that are threatened by severely eroding streambanks. Watersheds in Bradford County where this work took place included: Sugar Creek, Orcutt Creek, Towanda Creek, Buck Creek, and Wysox Creek.

These projects would not have been successful without the strong partnerships that have been formed between BCCD, Local, Federal, and State agencies, as well as the cooperation of Bradford County landowners.

Water quality improvement within the Toby Creek Watershed is getting a boost, thanks to two grants awarded to Headwaters Charitable Trust through the Environmental Stewardship Fund (Growing Greener).

An award in the amount of $231,134 will be used in the Johnstown Inclined Plane Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) Treatment ID and Design project. This project will evaluate the chemistry and flow of the Bethlehem Mine #72, as well as evaluate commingling the discharge with an existing treatment plant and evaluate the potential to use the treated water for geothermal energy for heating and cooling within the treatment plant facility.

The additional award in the amount of $251,400 will aid in funding the operations of the Cooperative Nursery in Brockway. Run by the Toby Creek Watershed Association, the Cooperative Nursery uses water treated on site from acid mine discharge to raise trout. This treatment has been instrumental in reducing the impacts of abandoned mine drainage within the Toby Creek Watershed and in improving stream water quality, while also providing economic value.

 

Nearly 46 miles long, Raccoon Creek winds through wood lots, agricultural land, and previously mine-stripped land. The impacts of this land use along Raccoon Creek has led to more than 2.5 miles of the Creek being degraded by runoff and vegetation removal.

In early 2021, Beaver County Conservation District received a $25,285 Environmental Stewardship Fund grant (Growing Greener) to continue the Raccoon Creek stabilization project (Phase I was completed by Allegheny County Conservation District). Phase II of this project seeks to implement natural stream design structures in the section of Raccoon Creek located in Hanover Township that will ultimately mitigate erosion, provide wildlife habitat, and improve water quality.

Located between Pittsburgh and West Virginia, the Raccoon Creek Watershed covers 184 square miles and is home to 35,000 people. Classified as a priority watershed by the PA Department of Environmental Protection, the area abounds with biodiversity and natural heritage, as well as outdoor recreational opportunities. Three major streams within the watershed – King’s Creek, Traverse Creek, and Service Creek – contain classifications as High Quality Warm Water Fisheries, while the mouth of the Raccoon Creek empties into the Ohio River, home to threatened and endangered aquatic wildlife.

It’s estimated that this project will prevent 400 – 800 of sediment from entering Raccoon Creek, protecting and enhancing the water quality of the region and beyond.

Located in South Whitehall Township in Lehigh County, Cedar Creek Park West is a 156 acre community park that is a hub for recreational activity. The park hosts the largest sports field facility in the Lehigh County Parks system, and features wooded wetlands, providing wildlife habitat and a space for birdwatching.

The Lehigh County Conservation District (LCCD) identified an eroded tributary of Cedar Creek within the park that needed stabilization and an enhanced riparian buffer. With Lehigh County Department of Parks and Recreation already in the process of planning park improvements (which includes removing a tennis court from the floodplain area) LCCD is partnering with the Parks Department to stabilize the tributary and return the floodplain to wetland habitat.

To help bring this project to a reality, LCCD received a Environmental Stewardship Fund Grant (Growing Greener) for $63,000 to assist with stabilizing the streambank, planting a riparian buffer, and restoring wetland habitat. The project will ultimately reduce pollutant loading into the stream, particularly nitrogen and sediment, and the riparian buffer and wetland enhancement will provide additional filtration and infiltration for stormwater as well as increase habitat.

The project is moving towards the permitting phase and is expected to be complete by the end of 2022.

A $640,947.00 grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) through the Environmental Stewardship Fund (Growing Greener Watershed Protection Program) has allowed Lancaster Farmland Trust (LFT) to expand their previous work in helping farmers to create cleaner water in the Lower Conestoga watershed in East Lampeter Township.

This work had begun in 2015 when LFT was awarded a Technical Capacity Grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) to conduct assessments on all 148 farms within East Lampeter Township. Until this technical capacity project, agricultural conservation practices and operations data were never collected on East Lampeter Township farms. With agricultural data collected and cataloged, LFT and partners completed a “MapShed” modeling program that highlighted agricultural conservation practices as the most advantageous and cost-effective ways to reduce nutrient and sediment pollution.

In 2017, LFT was awarded another NFWF grant to implement those conservation practices on several strategic farms within the township. Work on several of those farms is now complete – critical conservation practices like buffers, fencing, animal crossings, stabilized walkways, increased manure storage, and barnyard improvements are in the ground and improving Lancaster County’s water quality.

The generous grant from DEP in 2021 will allow several more properties in the township that lacked funding to complete these projects on their own to join the growing numbers of farms in Lancaster County committed to the fight for clean and clear water.

This story was provided by Lancaster Farmland Trust

 

Provided by Lancaster Farmland Trust

A $274,405.00 grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection through the Growing Greener Watershed Protection Program will build on Lancaster Farmland Trust’s (LFT) previous work in the Mill Creek Watershed.

In 2014, Upper Leacock Township engaged LFT to explore a strategic, cost-effective method for water quality improvement in an unnamed tributary of the Mill Creek. LFT conducted assessments on all farms in the designated area and, using the information gathered, developed a set of recommendations for additional practices that should be implemented. If implemented on strategic farms, these recommendations would result in maximum load reductions and significant progress toward meeting the township’s pollution reduction goals.

A grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Federation in 2015 led to the implementation of 18 new terrain-specific conservation practices on two farms with impressive nutrient and sediment reductions for the Mill Creek Watershed. The third farm in this project did not receive enough funding for completion. This new grant from DEP will complete the work started for this patient farming family and put an additional 13 conservation practices into the ground. This critical funding will also support the assessments of all 182 farms in Upper Leacock Township, 30 new agricultural erosion and sediment plans (Ag E&S plans) and/or manure management plans, and conservation practices on additional farms in the Mill Creek Watershed.

Streambank erosion is known to contribute to a significant increase in sediment and nutrient overloads, harming waterways and watersheds for communities and wildlife alike. According to Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection, more than 11,400 miles of streams are impacted by stormwater runoff and its nutrient pollutants of nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment. As Pennsylvania works to curtail its pollution into the Chesapeake Bay, restoring and maintaining local water quality to stop runoff is paramount in improving the health Pennsylvania’s watersheds and that of the Chesapeake Bay.

Blair County Conservation District (BCCD) identified three separate streambank restoration projects (Poplar Run, Spring Run and Spencer Run) within Blair County that were contributing to significant sediment and nutrient loads daily and exasperated in storm events, affecting the health of the Juniata River Watershed, and eventually the Chesapeake Bay.

BCCD’s primary goal for each project was to first stabilize the streambank and reduce erosion, while secondary goals for each project were to add a vegetative component to allow for stream buffering and promote cooling aspects to the waterway; and to promote aquatic health and increased aquatic habitat. The total project included the planting of 1,620 live tree stakes, 20 bareroot tree stock, and 12 container grown shrubs, and the result was the stabilization and restoration of 455 feet of streambanks in the Juniata River Watershed. Water Quality improvements based on the “FieldDocs” Program for In- Stream Load Reduction estimates that a combined 49.14 tons of suspended solids were reduced from entering the waterways.

The project cost for the three sites totaled $108,433.82, with $81,806 from Environmental Stewardship Funds (Growing Greener) and $31,627.82 in matching funds (both In-Kind Services and Construction dollars).

Partners: Blair County Conservation District; Pennsylvania Association of Conservation Districts, Technical Assistance Grant Program; BluAcres, LLC; and EcoIslands, LLC. Property owners – Michael Johnston, Sharon Ritchey and the Carson Valley Cemetery Association. Contractors – Vineyard Excavating, Nelson Landscaping, Kerr Landscaping and Claycomb Excavating. Contact Information: Donna J. Fisher, District Manager, Blair County Conservation