Water Policy News, Newsletter of the LWVPA-CEF WREN
Volume 20  No. 1
Winter 2011
In This Issue
Delaware Common Waters Fund
March calendar
Schuylkill Watershed Congress
Drug Takeback Day
Blair County Conservation Planner
York County Circuit Rider
Festival Volunteers needed
WREN Grants
Application guidelines for WREN grants for both Watershed and Source Water Protection projects have been posted on the WREN Grants page.  Applications due on Friday March 25.  Awarded projects will take place July 2011 - June 2012.
Read about successful projects at
http://wren.palwv.org/local.html
WREN Jan Feature
EPA Issues Final TMDL for Chesapeake Bay

On December 29, 2010, US EPA issued it's final TMDL (Total Maximum Daily Load) or "pollution diet" for the Chesapeake Bay.
Read more ...


Save the Date 


March 10


Delaware River Basin Forum



WREN Opportunity Grants

WREN has a small amount of funding for watershed education Opportunity grants.

Visit: WREN Grants page


Trout Unlimited

Coldwater Conservation Corps Training

January 15- Winnie Palmer Environmental Center (Latrobe, PA) Host: Forbes Trail TU Chapter
January 29- Dubois Dinner Banquet Facility (Dubois, PA) Host: Allegheny Mountain TU Chapter
February 12- Charier's Twp. Municipal Social Building (Charier's Twp., PA) Host: Chestnut Ridge TU Chapter
February 26- The Citizen's Hose Company (Lock Haven, PA) Host: Lloyd Wilson TU Chapter

March 19- St. Joseph's Church (Lucinda, PA) Host: Iron Furnace TU Chapter.  


 

For more information about TU's stream surveillance program, to register for any of the trainings, or to schedule a presentation for your local TU chapter,contact David Sewak, TU's Pennsylvania Marcellus Field Organizer, email [email protected]
or call 814-535-5030.

WREN Quick Links
Water Calendar

New WREN Resources

PSU Cooperative Extension Natural Gas  Programs


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Focus On .....

Delaware River Basin --- Common Waters Partnership


Healthy waters15 million people depend on the Delaware watershed for their drinking water.  The forested headwaters in the watershed have provided clean drinking water for the major cities of New York and Philadelphia, and for the myriad small towns and rural homes in-between, for generations.  But as population growth extends into those headwaters, and Marcellus shale gas development threatens groundwater and surface streams, how can the forests that provide that clean water be maintained?


The Common Waters Partnership, a regional collaboration of public and non-profit organizations and agencies upstream of the Delaware Water Gap, formed to answer that question. 
 

Much of the forest in the Delaware Basin above Delaware Water Gap is owned by private landowners in relatively small tracts.  In most cases, landowners are good stewards of their forests, but do not see the need to take actions that will assure their woods will stay healthy.  Meanwhile, in the lower basin, residents of Easton and Philadelphia, and others, who take their drinking water from the Delaware, do not see the connection between the water they drink and the forests of the upper basin.
 

To address these issues, the Common Waters Fund has been established.  In the first phase of the program, guidelines have been developed for assistance to forest landowners that will help  maintain healthy forests. The second phase, which kicks off in February 2011, will provide forest landowners, land trusts and timber operations with financial incentives to sustainably manage and conserve forests.  The ultimate goal is to protect sources of high-quality drinking water.

 

The Common Waters Fund will initially provide $1 million to implement forest management and conservation projects in the Upper Delaware River watershed.  The project draws on a combination of conservation tools to achieve its goal, including conservation easements and forest management strategies aimed at improving forest health and keeping private forest ownership viable.  Maps of priority areas, those most important for drinking water protection, and criteria for eligible projects have been developed.  The program will be rolled out at a project website, www.commonwatersfund.org in February. 
 

The Common Waters Fund is facilitated by the Pinchot Institute for Conservation with funding from the U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities' Healthy Watersheds through Healthy Forests Initiative.    The Pinchot Institute was founded by heirs of Gifford Pinchot, two-time governor of Pennsylvania and the first chief of the US Forest Service.  Gifford Pinchot was an advocate of helping improve management of forests, both private and public, large and small,  at a time when most saw forests as an endless resource to be exploited, not cared for.  The mission of the Pinchot Institute is to strengthen forest conservation thought, policy and action.  That mission is carried over to the Upper Delaware Common Waters Fund.

Beware the Second Week of March

Our title doesn't have quite the ring of "Beware the Ides ..." but the second week of March is when multiple conferences in southeastern PA and the  Lehigh Valley are too good to miss.  Three important events for water professionals and community leaders are planned:

Delaware watershed 

March 10

Delaware River Basin Source Water Protection Forum

Philadelphia, Reading & Monroe County

Sponsored by US Environmental Protection Agency

Info and register at: http://www.delawarebasindrinkingwater.org/

March 11 

Lehigh Valley Watershed Conference

Bethlehem, PA

Contact: Rebecca Kennedy, Lehigh County Conservation District, 610-391-9583, X 18

March 12  
 
Schuylkill Watershed Congress
 Pottstown, PA

Visit: http://www.delawareriverkeeper.org/about/event.aspx?Id=63

 

and that's not all for March.  Check the WREN Calendar for other important events.

Schuylkill Watershed Congress 

 The annual Schuylkill Watershed Congress is not just another conference.  In addition to being a sure sign that spring is just around the corner, the Congress has become a highly anticipated event for those interested in understanding, protecting and restoring their local streams.
Debby Colgan, Morrisville EAC, said of the 2010 Congress, "The sessions were informative, interesting and resource-rich.  The connections I made with knowledgeable folks will have direct impact as we move forward on Morrisville's Riverfront Preserve.  And I have been armed with concrete actions to address other pressing environmental concerns in our region."
Charlotte "Chotty" Sprenkle, Watershed Specialist with the Chester County Conservation District added, "The Congress is an important tool to bring like minds and educated minds together to network, conduct problem solving, and provide targeted and pertinent information for the betterment of our water resources."
The Congress, which facilitates networking across disciplines, has as its goal the presentation of new information about watershed protection and restoration.  This year's Congress will be held Saturday, March 12th, at the Montgomery County Community College, West Campus, in Pottstown, Pennsylvania.Delaware Riverkeeper
Details on the 2011 Congress program and registration forms can be found online at: http://www.delawareriverkeeper.org/about/event.aspx?Id=63.
For more information, call 215-369-1188, ext. 109., or email [email protected].
Lawrence County holds Drug Takeback Day
Lawrence County RxTwo 55 gallon drums of non-controlled medications along with two 5-gallon buckets of controlled substances were collected for proper disposal at Lawrence County's first Drug Take Back Day in November.

Lawrence County Conservation District worked with the county Recycling/Solid Waste Department and the Rx Task Force to plan and host the day.  Registered pharmacists, a household hazardous waste contractor, and security personnel were part of the team, along with volunteers from health and safety agencies. A 2010 WREN grant provided some of the funding for the event and will fund additional outreach activities in the spring.

A second National Drug Takeback Day, sponsored by the Drug Enforcement Agency and hosted by local police departments is planned for  April 30, 2011.  Details soon at http://www.takebacknetwork.com/ 
Blair County Conservation Planner 
Blair County april

The Pennsylvania Conservation Calendar was designed to encourage  farmers to  adopt conservation practices such as no tillage and cover crop farming, proper management of manure and fertilizer, and planting trees and shrubs along waterways. Calendar developers - about a dozen agency and nonprofit organization representatives - know such practices would yield not only clean water and stable soils, but also lower fertilizer costs, increase crop yields, and improve livestock health.

 

The challenge was how to develop the messages so that the farmers would see the benefits of changing their traditional farming habits.  Adding to the challenge is the reality that while all of the developers of the calendar know farm traditions well (many of them are producers), none had any formal training in communications to promote changed habits.  The messages of the calendar had to be written in a way that acknowledged the experience  of farmers who may be reluctant to try new ideas.

 

Project leader Beth Futrick suggested consulting with Eric Eckl, creator of Water Words that Work, after hearing him speak at the WREN project orientation meeting. Eckl stressed the importance of swapping jargon for words that make sense to the target audience and will connect with their experience.   "Foolproof" photos are also important to help tell the story: visuals of smiling faces, family pictures, and individuals doing the suggested behaviors.  It was a difficult but necessary task to develop messages in a way that will resonate with farmers.  Concerns of "dumbing down" the message were discussed, and in the end the calendar's language is much more readable, the pictures much more compelling.

 

Most environmental and conservation agencies and organizations know that it takes more than information to bring about behavior change.  But when our target audiences continue to make decisions contrary to science, we have to question how to communicate better. Using language that is understandable and readable is critical to building relationships and to protecting our water resources.


 Read more about the Blair County project a 2010 WREN project.  

York County Circuit Rider


In a new twist on an old idea, York County municipalities and landowners have benefited from a Circuit Rider dedicated to getting projects that help clean-up the Chesapeake Bay  implemented.

 

Jake Romig, York County Circuit Rider, was hired to help local governments find the resources, design the projects, apply for grants, get the permits to implement projects that reduced nutrient and sediment loads to the Chesapeake Bay.   The Circuit Rider worked directly with eight municipalities and over 40 local landowners including farmers.  He wrote grant proposals that pulled in over $1,000,000 to implement local projects.

 

The York County Circuit Rider Pilot Project has two  overarching objectives: 1) Engaging local governments and 2) On-the-ground implementation.  A report of the first year's work  can be viewed at  https://allianceforthebay.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/Circuit-Rider-Final-Report_v-2.pdf

 

The on-going project is a partnership between the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay and the York County Community Foundation with funding from the Environmental Protection Agency and the Chesapeake Bay Program. 

 

Can you spare a day?


PA Water FestivalOn May 24, 2011 approximately 1,630 fourth and fifth grade students and their teachers and chaperones will participate in the 2011 Pennsylvania Children's Water Festival to be held at Gettysburg College in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.


The students will be coming from Adams and York County school districts. Atthe festival they will explore the "History of Water in Pennsylvania" through dynamic and interactive activities. Topics covered include drinking water, groundwater, watersheds, surface water, how water issues affect our natural environment and the creatures that inhabit it, and water quality and conservation.
 

The Water Systems Council is planning the day, and is looking for 300 volunteers to help.  If you've been thinking of hosting a Water Festival in your community, or looking for some new ideas for an on-going Festival,  this will be a great opportunity to get some hands on experience.  If you can help, contact Margaret Martens,  202-625-4387, or email,  [email protected]
 

Water Policy News is published three times a year by the Water Resources Education Network, a project of the League of Women Voters of PA - Citizen Education Fund.  Please send your water education related programs and activities to WREN Communications Director.
Visit wren.palwv.org to learn more about WREN.