Water Policy News

Water Policy News

What's New

During November 2002, more than 200 people representing public water suppliers, local government officials, public health and environmental organizations, conservation districts, consultants, and PA DEP, attended the first four free workshops dealing with protection of public drinking water. The workshops were presented by WREN in partnership with the Pennsylvania Rural Water Association and funded by PA DEP.

Titled “The Future of Drinking Water: Fountain of Health or Risky Business?” the workshops were held in Greensburg, Pittsburgh, Allentown, and Monroe County and covered technical and financial resources available to communities who undertake voluntary efforts to safeguard their sources of drinking water and conduct community education. WREN provided a Source Water Protection Toolkit to each public water supplier and municipality that attended.
Over 95% felt better prepared to tackle source water protection efforts in their own communities after attending the workshops. WREN is planning additional workshops in southeastern, south central, northwestern, and north central PA during 2003. For more information: Julie Kollar at 267-468-0555 email: juliek@voicenet.com.

Chester County Adopts WATERSHEDS Plan
Watersheds, the result of a 5-year study by the Chester County Water Resources Authority and the Chester County Planning Commission, has been officially adopted by the Board of Commissioners as an integral component of Landscapes, the County’s national award winning comprehensive plan.
Watersheds provides an overall framework and guidance to assist municipalities and other entities to support planned growth in a manner that sustains the natural resources of the County’s watersheds. Rapidly growing Chester County has long worked to balance land use and water management.

Watersheds is billed as the first truly “integrated water resources plan,” considering all the natural components of the County’s watershed systems (precipitation, groundwater, runoff, riparian resources, aquatic living resources and streamflow) as well as the components of the built environment (stormwater runoff, point and non-point source water quality, water supply, water conservation and re-use, wastewater systems, and water-based recreational and historic resources.)

Watersheds will also serve as a River Conservation Plan, opening the way for Chester County streams and rivers to be listed on the Pennsylvania Rivers Registry, and provide avenues to additional state funding for implementation projects.

The final document will be available to the public in early 2003. For more information contact the Chester County Water Resources Authority, wauth@chesco.org or view the document online at www.chesco.org/water .

Pike County Conservation District Light Box Educational Displays are used by county watershed groups. Contact Sally Jones, sjones@pikepa.org , for information.

DEP Seeks Committee Members for Water Resources Planning

DEP is seeking nominees from counties, statewide, regional and local organizations, to serve on one of six regional and the statewide committee created under the new Water Resources Planning Act to help develop the State Water Plan. Over 126 positions must be filled. Nominations are due to DEP by March 17, 2003.

The new act requires DEP to develop a new State Water Plan over the next five years working with both regional and a statewide committee whose membership include environmental, local government, technical and water user interests.

Six regional committees will be established representing the Delaware Basin, the Ohio Basin, the Lake Erie and Genesee Basin, the Potomac Basin, the Upper and Middle Susquehanna Basin, and the Lower Susquehanna Basin. Each regional committee will help DEP to develop the regional components of the State Water Plan. A Statewide Committee will also be established to work with DEP in developing the State Water Plan.

A resume and cover letter explaining why a nominee should be considered for advisory committee membership should be sent by March 17 to: Stuart I. Gansell, Director, Bureau of Watershed Management, Department of Enviornmental Protection, Rachel Carson State Office Building, 400 Market St., P. O. Box 2063, Harrisburg, PA 17105-2063; e-mail sgansell@state.pa.us or visit the PA PowerPort at www.state.pa.us, PA Keyword: “water resources.”

Earth Day – April 22, 2003

Now is the time to begin planning for your educational activities for Earth Day, Earth Week, 2003. The theme for PA DEP provided material for Earth Day 2003 is “Sustainability for Pennsylvania - It’s In Our Hands.”

“ Sustainability is meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs,” said Jack Farster, Director of Environmental Education for DEP. A variety of educational materials is available from DEP and a special website - www.SustainablePa.org - has been developed to serve as a resource for Earth Day 2003 and beyond. For more information about Earth Day visit the PA PowerPort at www.state.pa.us, PA Keyword: “Earth Day Central.”

Policy Corner

Stormwater
PA DEP has finalized its Comprehensive Stormwater Management Program, setting forth a comprehensive program to address environmental impacts of stormwater. Stormwater is a significant source of “nonpoint” source of pollution and a principal cause of stream impairment throughout PA. Changes in the program include: a requirement that stormwater management plans address water quality impacts and an emphasis on recharge of stormwater to the ground, rather than rapid removal from the watershed. For more information, contact Durla Lathia 717-772-5661.

Water Resources
The Pennsylvania Water Resources Planning Act was passed and signed into law by Gov. Schweiker in December. Major components of the new law include:

The State Water Plan will be updated within 5 years, under the guidance of a new Statewide Water Resources Committee and six regional water resources committees.
Users of 10,000 gallons a day or more must register and periodically report their water use to DEP.
The State Water Plan will include identification of Critical Water Planning Areas —areas where the demand for water exceeds, or is projected to exceed, available supplies.
Critical Area Resource Plans will be developed under the guidance of the regional committees.
The act establishes a formal program to promote voluntary water conservation programs.

WREN Project Highlights

The Lackawaxen River Conservancy and Streets Run WA
Watershed awareness is the theme of The Lackawaxen River Conservancy’s and the Streets Run Watershed Association’s WREN funded projects. A brochure, an educational display and a website (www.lackawaxenriver.org ) have been created as part of the Lackawaxen River Watershed Awareness Project. Streets Run has installed watershed signage and is preparing a Powerpoint program to promote watershed education for local residents. For information email Frederica Leighton at info@lackawaxenriver.org or Coreen Casadei, of Streets Run Watershed Association, ccasadei@collectiveefforts.com.

Montoursville Borough & Brodhead WA - Groundwater Simulators
Two WREN funded projects have purchased groundwater simulators and given them to local schools. The Borough of Montoursville presented a groundwater simulator to the Montoursville School District and the Brodhead Watershed Association gave simulators to the four school districts in the watershed. In the Brodhead Watershed (Monroe County) the simulators are being used in high schools and project leaders held training sessions for science teachers in each district. In Montoursville, the program is geared toward elementary schools and teachers will see the models demonstrated at a spring Field Day at the elementary schools. Each project also purchased a simulator to use for public presentations about the importance of protecting and improving the community’s drinking water source waters.

For more information regarding the Montoursville Project contact Frank Tallman at 570-368-2486 and for the Brodhead Watershed project contact Cherie Morris, kwaheri@ptd.net.

Resources

Permitting an End to Pollution: How to Scrutinize and Strengthen Water Pollution Permits in Your State (River Network, 2002, 80 pp, ISBN 1-930407-08-4)
Gives the tools needed to begin analyzing National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits in your state. $15

Tracking TMDLs: A Field Guide for Evaluating Proposed Watershed Restoration Plans (River Network, 2002, 36 pp, ISBN 1-930407-07-6)
Gives the information needed to review and comment on TMDL watershed cleanup plans. $10

The Clean Water Act: An Owner’s Manual (River Network, 1999, 157 pp, ISBN 1-930407-02-5)
A comprehensive manual for people who want to clean up their rivers, streams and watersheds. $25

River Network publications can be ordered online, or downloaded free, at www.rivernetwork.org/library/resource/index.cfm . Search by title.

2001 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting and Wildlife Associated Recreation
(US Fish and Wildlife Service, 2002,96 pp)
examines a variety of wildlife-associated activities and estimates the value of wildlife related recreation. Tenth in a series. Available at www.census.gov/prod/2002pubs/FHW01.pdf

The State of the Nation’s Ecosystems (Heinz Center, 2002)
Designed for decision makers and policy writers as a succinct overview of the environmental condition and provide a reference point for measuring improvement or degradation. Available at www.heinzctr.org/ecosystems/. Available in print from Cambridge University Press.

Federal Incentives Could be Created to Reduce Sprawl (General Accounting Office, GAO-02-12, 2002) identifies actions the federal government can take to help transportation, air quality and water quality officials make sound land use decisions that protect the environment. Available from the GAO at 202-512-3841 or online at www.gao.gov/bgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-02-12 .

Coal Mine Drainage Prediction and Pollution Prevention in Pennsylvania (PA DEP, 2002) details the scientific forces at work in acid mine drainage (AMD) and how to neutralize it. Available from DEP, 717-783-2300 or email DEPINFO@state.pa.us .

Juniata, River of Sorrows: One Man’s Journey into a River’s Tragic Past (Live Oaks Press, 300 pp) a documentary of author Dennis McIlnay's float trip down the 100 mile Juniata River in the summer of 2001 and includes eight accounts of important people and events on the Juniata in the Colonial Period. Photographs of the Juniata, rare maps and documents from the 1600s and 1700s are included. McIlnay is developing a multi-media presentation on the book and can be contacted at (814) 472-3095 or DMcIlnay@LiveOaksPress.com. The book sells for $29.95 at www.LiveOaksPress.com, by phone at (800) 494-6372 or by mail at: Live Oaks Press, 826 Walnut Street, Hollidaysburg, PA 16648.

Nutrient Management Policy: Pennsylvania Stakeholders’ Views About Progress, Challenges, and Future Directions (Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences, 2002) identifies perspectives about critical nutrient management issues in the Commonwealth to help decision makers deliberate future policy directions. Available on the Penn State Nutrient and Water Policy Update Web site at http://agenvpolicy.aers.psu.edu or from its author, Dr. Charles Abdalla, 814-865-2562.

This newsletter is a project of the League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania Citizen Education Fund - WREN. Funded by a grant from the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection

Top of Page
Archives

Receive the WREN e-mail update!
Click here for registration instructions.
Privacy guaranteed.

Need to contact us or want to share your feedback?
Send an email to: wren@palwv.org

You can also visit the League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania web site.