On July 30, the PA Infrastructure Investment Authority announced the purchase of up to $7.1 million in verified nutrient and sediment reductions in Lancaster County through competitive bidding under the Clean Water Procurement Program.

The funding will support the installation of farm conservation practices that are expected to result in the reduction of 38,472.25 pounds of verified nitrogen reductions, and the associated 6,040.81 pounds of verified phosphorus and 261,703.25 pounds of sediment reductions annually for 20 years.

“The Clean Water Procurement Program was designed as a results-based framework to incentivize best management practices with the intent to reduce nutrients flowing into local waters and the Chesapeake Bay," said PennVEST Executive Director, Robert Boos. “These investments in best management practices provide a supplemental method for PENNVEST to support clean water projects in the Commonwealth in addition to the customary financing programs we offer."

The successful bidders are--

HGS, LLC, an ecological restoration company associated with Resource Environmental Solutions, LLC, received a maximum contract award of $5,869,832.24 for the purchase of up to 29,438.95 pounds of verified nitrogen reductions along with the associated 4,609 pounds of verified phosphorus and 106,362 pounds of sediment reductions annually.

This project, taking place at a 240-acre beef farm in Lancaster County, will achieve pollutant reductions through large-scale wetland and riparian grass buffers restoration on Conowingo Creek.

The Conowingo Creek Watershed has a local Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) and Watershed Implementation Plan.

Approximately 7.6 acres of wetland will be restored by using a wetland creation best management practice by reconnecting the stream to the floodplain for wetland generation.

This restoration effort will include 19.3 acres of grassed riparian buffer, of which 5.7 acres drains into the mainstem Conowingo Creek on the farm parcel.

The Best Management Practices (BMPs) used in this project have an estimated 20-year lifespan.

Lancaster Farmland Trust received a maximum contract award of $1,248,763.39 for the purchase of up to 9,033.30 pounds of verified nitrogen reductions along with the associated 1,431.81 pounds of verified phosphorus and 155,341.25 pounds of sediment reductions annually.

The twofold plan includes the installation of BMPs on two farms within Lancaster County.

The first farm, located in the Conestoga River watershed, is a small dairy and sheep operation intending to incorporate stormwater practices that will create and annual reduction of 5,778.40 pounds of nitrogen, 923.58 pounds of phosphorus and 106,801 pounds of sediment to an unnamed tributary of Black Creek.

Similarly, the second project will also utilize stormwater management practices on a small dairy farm, located in the Conowingo Creek watershed.

The Conowingo Creek Watershed has a local Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) and Watershed Implementation Plan (WIP).

Once construction is complete, the project is expected to create  annual reductions of 3,254.90 pounds of nitrogen, 508.23 pounds of phosphorus, and 48,540.25 pounds of sediment.

The BMPs used in both projects have an estimated 20-year lifespan.

Pennsylvania's Fiscal Year 2022-2023 budget, Act 54 of 2022, allocated $22 million of non-lapsing funds to PennVEST for the establishment of the Clean Water Procurement Program and the purchase of verified nutrient and sediment reductions through a competitive bidding process.

PennVEST awarded the first contracts under this program in February totalling $14.8 million.  Read more here.

The original $22 million in funding has now been committed to projects.

Visit PennVEST’s Clean Water Procurement Program webpage for more information on this program.

Related Articles This Week - Watersheds:

-- PennVEST Announces Purchase Of Up To $7.1 Million In Nutrient, Sediment Reductions From Farm Conservation Practices In Lancaster County  [PaEN] 

-- Penn State Center For Agricultural Conservation Assistance Training Hosts 3-Part Conservation Cornerstone Webinar Series For Ag Professionals Starting Aug. 27  [PaEN]

-- Penn State Extension Aug. 28 Webinar - Iron, Manganese, Hydrogen Sulfide In Private Water Supply Systems  [PaEN]

-- RiverStewards: Hughesville H.S. Students Learn Fly Fishing, Connecting With Nature At A Deeper Level In Lycoming County  [PaEN]

NewsClips:

-- LancasterOnline: Caernarvon Twp. Farmers Model Watershed Restoration At Hammertown Run

-- LancasterOnline: Lancaster County Teachers Take To The Water With Millersville University

-- Chesapeake Bay Journal - Karl Blankenship: Chesapeake Bay Underwater Grasses Rebound For Third Year

-- Williamsport Sun: Chesapeake Bay Water Quality Report Card Should Spark Us

-- Pike County Conservation District: Harmful Algal Blooms - What Are They And What Can We Do?

[Posted: July 31, 2024]

8/5/2024