The Pennsylvania Office of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation this week put out the second in a series of fact sheets on water quality issues facing Pennsylvania saying nearly 20,000 miles of rivers and streams in the state are polluted and do not meet water quality standards.

Although much focus has been on the Chesapeake Bay Clean Water Blueprint, many may not realize there are thousands of stream miles and hundreds of acres of lakes all across Pennsylvania that are considered “impaired” under the federal Clean Water Act that either have or will require what is known as a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL).

When a waterbody is called “impaired,” it does not meet scientifically established water quality criteria. Simply stated, a TMDL scientifically answers the question of “how much pollution is too much?”

Over 7,200 miles of streams have TMDLs in Pennsylvania and more are being added.

According to the Department of Environmental Protection’s most recent assessment, more than 19,600 stream miles and nearly 67,990 acres of lakes in Pennsylvania are impaired. This represents roughly 23 percent of all streams and approximately 42 percent of all lakes in the Commonwealth.

The three primary causes of impairment are: agricultural runoff (5,705 miles), abandoned mine drainage (5,596 miles) and urban/suburban stormwater runoff (4,103).  Sediment from these sources of pollution is the leading carrier of pollution.

“The effort to “Save the Bay” starts with the small streams of Pennsylvania. The benefits of better water quality, whether they be improved agricultural productivity, reduced flooding, improved sewer and water infrastructure, or downtown revitalization are investments for Pennsylvanian’s by Pennsylvanians.

“To date, the Commonwealth has made sound investments in practices to help reduce pollution sources to local rivers and streams. These practices are also the same practices that can be found in Pennsylvania’s phase 1 and 2 Chesapeake Bay plans, called Watershed Implementation Plans, and the associated 2-year Milestone commitments.

 “By galvanizing our efforts, and our funding, on conservation practices that count toward meeting the Commonwealth’s obligations under the Chesapeake Bay Clean Water Blueprint, we are also helping to ensure clean water to local communities in the Bay watershed.”

A copy of the TMDL fact sheet is available online.

The first fact sheet-- A Primer On Pollutants Of Concern-- outlines the contributions Pennsylvania’s portion of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed makes to nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment pollution to the Bay. 

10/7/2013