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Pennsylvania Ag News Headlines
Stakeholders Discuss Stream and River Health in Bay Watershed
Pennsylvania Ag Connection - 07/16/2018

Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Secretary Patrick McDonnell and local stakeholders discussed in a live webinar the development of county-level action plans as part of Phase 3 of Pennsylvania's Chesapeake Bay Watershed Implementation Plan (WIP).

"State and local partners are bringing new levels of collaboration and expertise to the planning process, with the goal of improving water quality to benefit local communities," said Secretary McDonnell. "After a year of work by almost 100 volunteers on the steering committee and work groups, planning has broadened to the county geographic level, with data-grounded tools to make planning as feasible and productive as possible for each county in the watershed."

Nicki Kasi, director of the DEP Chesapeake Bay Program, and Marcus Kohl, Director of the DEP Northcentral Regional Office, said the planning framework enables counties to leverage existing water quality projects and plan new ones to serve their local community goals. A support team, planning guidelines, and other resources are also being provided to county stakeholders.

Lisa Schaefer, director of government relations at the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania and member of the Phase 3 WIP Steering Committee, discussed the Community Clean Water Toolbox. This package of customized data and information specifies counties' pollutant loads - nitrogen, phosphorous, and sediment - for impaired streams and recommends best management practices that could be implemented to lower them.

Dan Zimmerman, manager of Warwick Township, Lancaster County, shared details on two successful municipal stormwater management projects.

Lancaster, York, Franklin, and Adams counties are pilot-testing the toolbox this summer and fall, before it's offered to more counties in the watershed.

All or part of 43 Pennsylvania counties are in the bay watershed. A federal mandate from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency requires Pennsylvania to reduce sediment and nutrient loads in the watershed to meet specific goals by 2025.

View and listen to the webinar recording, and learn more about the multipartner development of Pennsylvania's Phase Chesapeake Bay Watershed Implementation Plan at www.dep.pa.gov/chesapeakebay/phase3.


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