DEP’s latest Chesapeake Bay Program Update highlights the latest progress of many partners in achieving needed pollution reductions in Pennsylvania’s portion of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed, including national recognition of Bay Watershed Implementation Plan efforts.

National Recognition

The National Association of Environmental Professionals recognized Pennsylvania's. Chesapeake Bay Phase 3 Watershed Implementation Plan with its 2024 Environmental Excellence Award highlighting the extensive, collaborative and ongoing effort among Pennsylvania state and local partners.

Jill Whitcomb, Director of DEP's Bureau of Watershed Restoration and Nonpoint Source Management was presented with the award at the NAEP annual conference of more than 430 environmental professionals from across the nation.

“Thanks to our county and state action leaders, and the buy-in from private landowners and farmers, nutrient and sediment pollution is decreasing from Pennsylvania’s waters to the Chesapeake Bay at an accelerated rate,” said Whitcomb. “We appreciate the NAEP’s recognition of our collective efforts in Pennsylvania.”

Pennsylvania’s Phase 3 WIP breaks down the challenge of reducing nutrient and sediment pollution across the watershed by taking a local approach and focusing on state program action leaders working together with county and local stakeholders across 34 counties to create and implement Countywide Action Plans (CAPs).

CAP implementation comes with many benefits, financial resources, and technical assistance. Both the state and a diverse group of partners, working across the watershed, have dedicated funding for projects identified in county CAPs.

As projects at the county level are completed, water quality improves, benefiting local residents and those living downstream.

Robust action by state government leaders and their partners has led to more funding, staffing and programs focused on helping counties meet their clean water goals.

Commonwealth legislators, working with the governor, took historic action to provide funding for projects that reduce water pollution across Pennsylvania’s expansive Chesapeake Bay watershed.

Staff across state agencies and program action leaders in agriculture, forestry, stormwater, and wastewater are distributing funds into programs that make measurable differences on the ground.

“DEP engages with and empowers our local stakeholders, with grassroots efforts fueling improvements in local water quality," said Whitcomb. "Collaboration, communication, and coordination has allowed our partners to advance their local goals and improve the health of the Chesapeake Bay watershed."

Big changes in agency-level organization have improved the state’s ability to accomplish state-level work and support county-led efforts, which has resulted in strong partnerships, impactful projects, and measurably cleaner water across Pennsylvania’s Bay watershed.

Other Chesapeake Bay Program Updates

-- EPA Confirms Nutrient Reductions For PA’s 2023 Progress Year

-- EPA’s Evaluation Of PA’s 2022-23, 2024-25 Milestones Efforts

-- DEP Releases Land Application of Manure Management Manual Supplement

-- Funding Opportunities Now Open

-- Progress Reports from County Partners

Click Here to read the entire DEP Chesapeake Bay Program Update.  Click Here to sign up for your own copy

Visit DEP’s Chesapeake Bay Watershed webpage to learn more about cleaning up rivers and streams in Pennsylvania's portion of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed.

How Clean Is Your Stream?

The draft 2024 report has an interactive report viewer that allows you to zoom in to your own address to see if the streams near you are impaired and why.

Click Here to check out your streams.  Click Here for a tutorial on using the viewer.

Related Articles - Watersheds:

-- DEP Chesapeake Bay Update: PA's Chesapeake Bay Watershed Implementation Plan Receives National Recognition For Collaboration, Partnerships  [PaEN]

-- DEP Published An eNotice Saying The 2024 PA Integrated Water Quality Report Has Been Published As Final

-- Penn State Research Traced Radioactive Radium In Freshwater Mussels To Oil & Gas Wastewater  [PaEN]

-- Penn State Extension Watershed Winds Newsletter Highlights Student AgVenture Camp; Watershed Stewards Native Plant Kit; Pond Management; Rain Barrel Guy; Much More!  [PaEN]

-- Penn State Extension Hosts June 10 Webinar On Watershed-Friendly Native Planting  [PaEN]

-- Penn State Extension Highlights Partnership Helping PA Communities Plant 2,500 Large Bare Root Trees; Woodland Health Practices Handbook; Chesapeake Stormwater Training  [PaEN]

-- Center For Watershed Protection Hosts 3-Part Stream Restoration Webinar Series Starting June 4  [PaEN]

-- Lancaster Farming: PA Dairies Get $25 Million Boost for Climate-Smart Practices; Penn State Seeking 100 Farms To Receive Assistance

-- USDA: Application Period Now Open For Wetland Reserve Enhancement Program Funding  [PaEN]

-- USDA Accepting Applications For Wetlands Mitigation Bank Projects

-- Penn State Extension: Woods & Wildlife News & Notes: May Forest Snapshot; Service Forester Assistance For Forestland Owners; Forest Education For Teachers, Youth Leaders 

NewsClips:

-- LancasterOnline: Conowingo Creek Restoration Serves As Model For Conservation 

-- Lancaster Clean Water Partners: 2023 Year-In-Review

-- Lancaster Farming: PA Dairies Get $25 Million Boost for Climate-Smart Practices; Penn State Seeking 100 Farms To Receive Assistance

-- Beaver County Times - Brian Whipkey: Fall Cankerworms Drop From Leaves Onto Homes, Cars, People In Southwest PA

-- Horn Farm Center For Agricultural Education Hosts 3-Part, In-Person Workshops On Mycology [Fungi & Mushrooms] In York Starting June 8

-- WHYY: Philadelphia Mussel Hatchery Produces More Juveniles, Thanks To New Discoveries

-- Inquirer: Philly’s Nursery-Grown Mussels Are Crucial To Cleaning Rivers, Local Scientists Just Made A Major Breakthrough

-- Chesapeake Bay Foundation - B.J. Small: Marvelous Macros - Tiny Aquatic Creatures With An Important Message

-- WTAJ/AP: Researchers Find Tiny Organism Has Power To Reduce Persistent Greenhouse Gas Emissions In Farm Fields

-- PennLive: Wiconisco Creek Anglers Assn. Organized 30+ Volunteers For Stream Cleanup In Dauphin County

-- Warren Times: Audubon Community Nature Center Volunteers Teach In Elementary School Nature Education Program

-- The Daily Item: Susquehanna University Offering Watershed Studies Minor

-- Inquirer - Frank Kummer, et al: Since 2020, 55 Million Square Feet Of Warehouse Space Have Reshaped Jobs, Traffic, Landscapes

-- Delaware RiverKeeper May 31 RiverWatch Video Report

-- US DOE, US Treasury, USDA Release Joint Policy Statement And Principles On Voluntary Carbon Credit Markets

[Posted: May 31, 2024]

6/3/2024