By Shannon Gority, PA Executive Director, Chesapeake Bay Foundation.

The Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) appreciates the USA Today Network’s special series, “Killing the Chesapeake,” for its in-depth examination of the causes and effects of the human and environmental tolls of pollution on the Susquehanna River and the Chesapeake Bay. It is recommended reading.

As the Susquehanna provides half of the freshwater that flows into the bay, it makes sense that to save the bay, we must first save PA.

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection’s latest biennial report lists 25,468 miles of Commonwealth waters, 5,500 miles more than in its 2016 report, as being harmed by pollution. [Read more here]

As the number of miles of polluted waters continues to grow, it is past time that leadership, funding, and technical support from elected leaders at the state and federal levels matches the will and hard work of those on the ground working to get the Keystone State back on track toward meeting its clean water commitment.

The mission to stop killing the Susquehanna and local waters is what motivates our staff in Pennsylvania every day.

Achieving Pennsylvania’s Clean Water Blueprint to reduce pollution will improve and protect local rivers, streams, and lakes, regardless of proximity to the bay.

But the job will get tougher by the day, until elected decision-makers share the same commitment as those already working hard.

We all know, you get what you pay for and the condition of our local waters is far from acceptable.

The will, hard work and progress by boots on the ground give us hope.

It is a positive that Pennsylvania’s Phase 3 Watershed Implementation Plan (WIP) to achieve the blueprint by 2025 is being applied locally, at the county level.

There, residents and conservation workers can have buy-in and improve conditions downstream by focusing on their own local waters.

Unfortunately, the plan achieves less than 75 percent of the nitrogen reduction needed and requires an additional $324 million annually.  [Read more here]

The Commonwealth must rectify this gap to help willing landowners implement pollution-reduction practices that make the most efficient use of limited funds and ideally provide multiple benefits.

Take regenerative agriculture on farms in Pennsylvania. It is making a difference by improving water quality, as well as improving profitability for local farmers.  [Read more here]

Regenerative agriculture strategies are good for farm productivity and keeping soil on the land instead of running off into local waters.

Farmers are improving soil health and sequestering carbon by planting cover crops, diversifying and rotating crops, and practicing no-till planting and rotational grazing.

We are encouraged that farmers in the Keystone State have shown they are willing to invest their time, land, limited funds, and effort to clean and protect local rivers and streams.

But they need greater financial and technical investments from state and federal sources if they are to expand and finish the job.

Throughout the Commonwealth, clean water is also growing trees in Pennsylvania. Trees are among the most cost-effective tools for reducing polluted runoff and the benefits for stream health and habitat are numerous.

We are proud that the Keystone 10 Million Trees Partnership, coordinated by CBF, and efforts at the state and federal levels have planted 2.5 million trees in the commonwealth since 2018.

The Partnership plans to add another 210,000 trees in 2021 and 500,000 next year.

Protecting the health of the Susquehanna and its tributaries also makes for safer drinking water.

According to Penn State University, 56 percent of Pennsylvanians get their drinking water from surface waters, including 43,000 miles of streams, 2,300 reservoirs, and 76 natural lakes.

Unfortunately, the governor’s latest budget proposal does little to help the Commonwealth accelerate efforts to reduce polluted runoff.  [Read more here]

It remains unclear how the state will close the over $320 million (and rising) annual shortfall in investments needed to meet its Clean Water Blueprint by 2025.

We can save the bay and, even more importantly, protect our local rivers and streams. Our local economy, recreational opportunities, and quality of life hang in the balance.

With a shared commitment to stop killing the Susquehanna and the Chesapeake, we can leave a legacy of clean water for our children and future generations.

For more on Chesapeake Bay-related issues in Pennsylvania, visit the Chesapeake Bay Foundation-PA webpage.  Click Here to sign up for Pennsylvania updates (bottom of left column).  Click Here to support their work.

Also visit the Keystone 10 Million Trees Partnership to learn how you can help clean water grow on trees.

CBF has over 275,000 members in Bay Watershed.

[PA Chesapeake Bay Plan

[For more information on Pennsylvania’s plan, visit DEP’s Chesapeake Bay Office webpage.

[How Clean Is Your Stream?

[DEP’s Interactive Report Viewer allows you to zoom in on your own stream or watershed to find out how clean your stream is or if it has impaired water quality using the latest information in the draft 2020 Water Quality Report.]

(Photo: Muddy Susquehanna River just below Harrisburg after a rain storm.)

NewsClips:

-- AltoonaM Editorial: PA Must Do Its Part To Stop Killing Chesapeake Bay

-- Milton Standard Editorial: PA Must Stop Killing The Chesapeake Bay

-- Waynesboro Record-Herald Editorial: PA Must Stop Killing The Chesapeake Bay

-- Bradford Era Editorial: PA Must Stop Killing The Chesapeake Bay

-- ErieT Editorial: PA Must Stop Killing The Chesapeake Bay 

-- What REAL Environmental & Conservation Leadership Looks Like In PA

-- Bay Journal Forum: Muddy Creek Chapter Trout Unlimited's Many Hands Make Light Work Of Tree-Planting In York County

-- SunburyDI: 10 Million Tree Plantings In PA Will Help Chesapeake Bay

Related Articles This Week:

-- Williamsport Sun-Gazette: Pennsylvania Must Stop Killing The Chesapeake Bay

-- Funding Flashback 2017:  PA Chesapeake Bay Commission Members Spotlight Need For Clean Water Fund In PA

-- Funding Flashback 2020: Senate Environmental Committee Puts Spotlight On Funding Needed To Implement PA Clean Water Plan At Chesapeake Bay Briefing

-- Chesapeake Bay Commission Recommends Increasing Federal Fund To Chesapeake Bay Watershed Cleanup

Related Articles - Budget:

-- House Budget Hearing Fails To Address A Single Critical Budget Issue Faced By DEP Or DCNR

-- Work The Problem, Cancel The Show: Environmental Funding Is About People, Not Numbers

-- 90% Of Voters Want MORE Funding For Critical Environmental, Conservation Programs & Local Projects-- Whose Budget Proposal Does That?

-- $201,977,000 Diverted From Environment, Energy Funds To Balance FY 2020-21 State Budget

-- 90% Of PA Voters Want Senate, House To Provide More Funding For Critical Environmental, Conservation Programs; That Didn’t Happen In 2020

[Posted: March 3, 2021]

3/8/2021