EPA Awards $4.9 Million To PA To Improve Water Quality Throughout The State

On October 4, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced a $4,978,200 grant to the Department of Environmental Protection to improve water quality in rivers and streams throughout the state.

The grant is part of EPA's Section 319 Nonpoint Source Implementation Grant Program.

“With this funding, EPA supports the preservation and protection of Pennsylvania’s water resources for communities throughout the state,” said EPA Mid-Atlantic Acting Regional Administrator Diana Esher. “By working in partnership with Pennsylvania, we can reduce nonpoint source pollution and help ensure that all Pennsylvanians have clean water.”

Nonpoint source pollution is caused when rainfall or snowmelt, moving over and through the ground, picks up and carries natural and human-made pollutants, depositing them into lakes, rivers, wetlands, coastal waters and groundwater.

Controlling nonpoint source pollution is especially important since one in three Americans get their drinking water from public systems that rely on seasonal and rain-dependent streams.

The projects funded with this grant focus on watersheds with water quality impairments caused by polluted run-off from nonpoint sources. Nonpoint source implementation projects include structural and non-structural best management practices, watershed planning, monitoring, technology demonstrations, and a variety of education/outreach programs.

Visit EPA’s Nonpoint Source Program webpage to learn more about successful nonpoint source reduction projects.

October Is Buffer Month!

Penn State Extension is joining the Chesapeake Conservation Landscaping Council, who declared October as Riparian Buffer Month, as an opportunity to build awareness and familiarity of forested riparian buffers while sharing the applicability of these sustainable practices in a variety of settings.  Read more here.

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.

[Posted: October 4, 2021]  PA Environment Digest