When: Wednesday, June 19, 2013; Registration 8:45 am; Workshop 9am-3pm

Where: Raystown Lake Visitor Center, 6993 Seven Points Road #2, Hesston, PA Huntingdon County, PA (map)

  

Communities across Pennsylvania have expressed a keen interest in protecting the purity of their public water supplies. Many are developing forward thinking approaches to safeguard municipal water sources. To help communities, planners, and public water systems learn more about tools and management options to protect drinking water now and for future generations, WREN and PA DEP will conduct an educational workshop at Raystown Lake, Huntingdon County on June 19th. 

Cost: $10/person covers workshop, materials, and box lunch.

For more details, download flyer and agenda, or to register, click here. 

 

WREN recently completed a three minute video designed to educate and encourage residents to become proactive and ask community leaders and water systems across Pennsylvania to put common sense protection measures in place to enhance the safety, reliability and sustainability of local water supply sources. Developed with assistance from GreenTreks Network Inc. and suitable for all audiences, watch the three minute video and please share. 

  

WREN is enhancing its sourcewaterpa website to soon allow residents to check whether their public water supplier has a PA DEP-approved Source Water Protection Plan in place.  PA Safe Drinking Water regulations direct public water suppliers to find and utilize the best sources available and to take measures necessary to protect those sources.  The measures can include defining the wellhead protection or source water protection recharge areas, setting permitting requirements and development standards that will protect drinking water resources, improving emergency response coordination, among many others.  The regulations also set forth the requirements for earning state approval of local Source Water Protection (SWP) programs.

 

Unfortunately, because the SWP program is voluntary, far too few PA DEP-approved Sourcewater Protection Plans are in place.  This means many drinking water sources may still face significant preventable risks. As studies have shown, prevention is drastically less expensive than dealing with contamination.

 

Check the maps at "Your Status" to see whether your drinking water system has an approved Source Water Protection Plan - a listing of water systems with DEP-approved plans will be available at the site soon.

Nutrient pollution is one of the most challenging and wide-spread environmental problems in the country. It is caused when too many nutrients enter waterways. The nutrients fuel the growth of small plants called algae, which decrease oxygen in the water. Reduced oxygen levels can kill fish and other aquatic life. Some algae release toxins and can be harmful to humans,, pets and wildlife, like blue green algae. Harmful algal blooms (HABs) have threatened beaches, drinking water sources, and even the boating venue for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China.

 

What are blue-green algae?

Blue-green algae, also known as Cyanobacteria, are a group of photosynthetic bacteria that many people refer to as "pond scum." Blue-green algae are most often blue-green in color, but can also be blue, green, reddish-purple, or brown. Blue-green algae generally grow in lakes, ponds, and slow-moving streams when the water is warm and enriched with nutrients like phosphorus or nitrogen from fertilizer runoff or septic tank overflows.

 

To help combat this pollution problem, sensors have been installed along the Great Miami River (a tributary to the Ohio River) to monitor water temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen, and most notably, blue green algae. The sensors may help determine the potential for algal blooms.

 

This information is valuable to help prevent contact with toxic algae blooms. Real time data is sent to the YSI EcoNet website. A map of other case studies of areas of the country that are facing this issue head on are available on the EPA website. 

 

EPA's Nutrient Pollution website includes actions to take to prevent nutrient pollution in your community, in your home, in your yard, and in your classroom. For comprehensive information on this pollution issue, click on the EPA fact sheet pictured here. 

A current (2012-13) WREN Watershed Education project, Garrett Hill Coalition in Radnor Twp, Delaware County, did a stupendous job on their "Managing Stormwater in Our Backyards" project. 

 

The focus of the project was to demonstrate a variety of solutions that help improve water quality by reducing storm water impacts. Two workshops and workdays were held to help solve stormwater runoff in a the Garrett Hill neighborhood, which is an older residential area of Radnor Township built before stormwater controls came into use.

Garrett Hill Partners get rain garden installation help from Bryn Mawr Scout Troop 19 and Eagle Scout Colin McCrossan on 10/27/12, the day before Hurricane Sandy - Brand new rain garden at Clem Macrone Park in Radnor worked beautifully during and after the storm without damage to plants or structure.

What made this project successful? In following WREN's lessons learned for grantees, the project team:

 

1. "Blew Their Horn!" Publicized and shared the good news about winning funding. They outlined benefits to the community about how rain gardens manage stormwater, provide habitat for birds and butterflies, and reduce flooding.  Eagle Scout Colin McCrossan described the demonstration rain garden that his Boy Scout troop planned to install in October 2012.

The Partners issued a press release announcing the project, and shared the goals, upcoming activities and how residents could get involved. 

2. Involved their municipal partner, Radnor Township, in the project. As a result, the coalition broadened the reach of their efforts and made additional resources available, like the Township's website and Community Access Channel, to broadcast community workshops multiple times to help reach more constituents. 

3. Videotaped their rain garden workshop and posted the video to share with all residents on the township website. 

4. Created a webpage packed with resources for homeowners featuring foolproof photos with smiling faces doing the desired environmental behaviors featuring the Garrett Hill community members.

5. Worked to get good publicity throughout the project. 

 

WREN is proud of the work the Garrett Hill Coalition Partners have done to make a difference for water quality in their community! 

 

This education program was sponsored by the Garrett Hill Coalition and has been funded in part by the League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania Citizen Education Fund through a Section 319 federal Clean Water Act grant for the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, administered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.