On January 25, Department of Environmental Protection Northcentral Region Acting Director Jared Dressler joined Columbia County Conservation District and Town of Bloomsburg leaders to announce $245,000 in Growing Greener grant funding to improve water quality in the Kinney Run Watershed and view project sites. 

Kinney Run, an impaired tributary to the Susquehanna River, is a small, urbanized watershed that frequently experiences flooding. 

The Growing Greener grant will fund three interconnected projects within the watershed to reduce stormwater runoff, non-point source pollution, and sediment erosion and deposition. 

The projects will enhance aquatic and pollinator habitats, increase ecosystem services, and establish a new public nature park with educational signage.

“The design for Kinney Run improvements is a wonderful example of creatively planning a series of interrelated projects to address multiple environmental and community goals, enhancing outdoor recreation, environmental education opportunities, and local water quality,” said Dressler.  “I look forward to visiting again in the future to see the established best management practices and nature park.”

Portions of the Kinney Run work funded by this grant will satisfy the Town of Bloomsburg’s pollution reduction requirements under the Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) Program, achieving quantified pollution reductions and water quality improvements to benefit local waters, downstream communities, and the Chesapeake Bay. 

The planned projects include:

-- Sediment removal and conversion of high flow bypass channel to a bioswale;

-- Installation of an infiltration basin to treat runoff from 4.44 acres by Town Park Village;

-- Creation of 1,300 linear feet of in-stream fish habitat and stream stabilization structures;

-- Extension of an existing 1,000 foot riparian buffer; 

-- Conversion of 11 acres of lawn to a pollinator meadow and creation of monarch butterfly habitat; and

-- Establishment of a new public nature park with educational signs.

The Kinney Run projects will be coordinated and administered by Columbia County Conservation District staff in partnership with officials from the Town of Bloomsburg.

Project partners also include the Fish and Boat Commission Habitat Management Division, the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, and the Keystone Ten Million Trees Partnership.

Upcoming Grant Opportunities

-- January 28:  PA Lake Management Society Project Mini-Grants

-- January 31:  Dept. Of Agriculture REAP Farm Conservation Tax Credits

-- January 31:  Turkey Hill Partnership/NRCS Farm Conservation Grants

-- Commonwealth Financing Authority Act 13 Drilling Impact Fee Funded Grants Typically Open February 1

-- February 1: Foundation For PA Watersheds Grants

-- February 14: Applications Now Being Accepted For 2022 Schuylkill River Restoration Fund; Land Transaction Assistance Grants

-- February 18: Lancaster Clean Water Partners Grant Deadline Reminder

-- March 4: Coldwater Heritage Partnership Conservation Grants

-- April 6: DCNR Community Conservation Partnership Grants

-- April 6: DCNR Riparian Forest Buffer Grants

-- April 13: NRCS Regional Conservation Partnership Grants

-- April 15:  Fish & Boat Commission Lancaster, York Habitat Grants

-- WeConservePA: Conservation Easement Transaction Assistance Grants Now Available

-- August 12--  Foundation For PA Watersheds Grants

Visit the PA Environment Digest Grants & Awards webpage for more environmental and energy grant opportunities.

Related Articles This Week:

-- DEP Announces More Than $1.7 Million In Growing Greener Grants To Fund Local Water Clean Up Projects In Northwest PA

-- DEP Awards Borough Of Jim Thorpe $200,000 Growing Greener Grant For Stream Restoration Work In Carbon County

-- PA Resources Council, Partners Receive Growing Greener Grant For Delaware County Stormwater Management Project 

-- Witnesses Unanimously Support Allocating American Rescue Plan Funding For On-Farm Conservation Projects At House Committee Meeting; Rep. Metcalfe Calls It ‘Welfare’

-- PA State Government Has Refused To Pay Stormwater Management Fees To Local Authorities Designed To Meet Chesapeake Bay Cleanup Obligations

Related Articles:

-- Chesapeake Bay Foundation Calls For Greater Investments To Reduce Pollution As Number Of Impaired Streams Increases In PA

-- Two Bipartisan Bills Just Sitting In Senate Waiting To Address Record Number Of Water Quality Impaired Streams Reported In 2022  [PaEN]

-- DEP 2022 Water Quality Report Shows 27,886 Miles Of Streams With Impaired Water Quality In PA (33%) - An Increase From 25,468 In 2020 

[Posted: January 25, 2022]

1/31/2022