Water Policy News

Water Policy News

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WREN Awards 31 Grants
Coalitions in 31 communities will receive funding in this year's round of WREN grants for education projects which focus on protecting drinking water sources and preventing nonpoint source pollution in watersheds. A total of $113,000 was awarded, with grants ranging in size from $1,500 to $5,000. For a list of projects, see below.

Drinking Water Wise Workshops
WREN sponsored four workshops in southeastern and southcentral PA during the month of May to provide information on source water protection to water suppliers, municipal officials and community groups. Water suppliers are encouraged to develop programs to safeguard the source of their communities' water. Workshop attendees were briefed on PA Department of Environmental Protection and WREN grants to promote source water protection programs. Additional workshops will be held in early Fall in the northcentral and northwest regions of the state.

EPA Source Water Protection Conference
June 2-4 Washington, DC
a great opportunity to learn about programs across the country.
WREN scholarships available. www.palwv.org/wren/calendar.html

Kathleen McGinty to Speak at WREN Orientation Meeting
PA DEP Acting Secretary Kathleen McGinty will be the keynote speaker at the WREN Orientation and Wrap-Up meeting for 2002 and 2003 projects. The meeting will be held June 12 and 13 at Allenberry Resort in Boiling Springs. McGinty will speak after dinner on June 12.

Secretary McGinty is a native of Philadelphia where her father was a city policeman. She graduated from St. Joseph's University with a degree in chemistry and received her law degree from Columbia University. She served as Chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality in the Clinton administration. More recently she launched a new company division of Natsource, LLC, offering risk management and investment strategies related to clean energy.

McGinty is still serving as Acting Secretary, as a battle over her confirmation continues in the Republican controlled Senate. In her confirmation testimony before the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee, McGinty emphasized her commitment to clean water, mentioning acid mine drainage, urban and rural runoff problems and aging water infrastructure as areas of concern.

When WREN leaders met with McGinty in April she expressed strong interest in and support for the work that WREN funded coalitions undertake in their communities. We believe she will be very impressed by the community leaders she meets at Allenberry.

Rain Barrel Giveaway
Montgomery County Conservation District and Perkiomen Watershed Conservancy advertised their WREN workshops entitled “Not A Drop to Drink? Planning Today for Tomorrow’s Water" with an offer of one rain barrel giveaway at each of the four workshops. Over 80 participants were attracted to attend and hear about how to protect and conserve their water resources. For instructions on how to make your own rain barrel, visit montgomeryconservation.org.

WREN Grants Awarded to Community Coalitions for Education Projects

Source Water Protection

East Petersburg Borough, Lancaster County; $5,000 to post Water Supply Area signs, develop community education packets, and purchase Groundwater Simulator for use in schools.
Greencastle Area Water Authority, Franklin County; $5,000 to post Water Supply Area signs and design an informational poster about source water protection and purchase educational materials.
Horsham Township Water & Sewer Authority, Montgomery County; $1,500 to install watershed identification and wellhead protection signs.
Meadville Area Water Authority, Crawford County; $3,800 to produce newsletters and purchase educational materials for the public library.
Milford Borough Municipal Authority, Pike County; $3,880 to work with school district to design curriculum for elementary students and to publish and direct mail a series of newspaper articles about source water protection.
Monaca Borough Water Department, Beaver County; $3,100 to develop Teacher’s Guides and purchase equipment for the classroom that will aid in water resources education.
Mount Union Municipal Authority, Huntingdon County; $4,000 to conduct Wellhead Protection Steering Committee meetings, post Water Supply Area signs, print and mail materials, and make presentations to community groups.
Mountain Watershed Association, Fayette County; $3,760 to post Water Supply Area signs, produce brochures, and make presentations about source water protection throughout the community.
Northern Potter School District, Potter County; $4,500 to involve students in the development of a wellhead protection plan and introduce a Groundwater Simulator and Watershed Model into classrooms.
Roamingwood Sewer & Water Association, Wayne County; $4,400 to initiate a Volunteer Environmental Educator Program, design curriculum and present a teacher workshop, and provide speakers and demonstrations of a customized groundwater simulator at schools, civic and business meetings, and fairs.
Somerset County Area Agency on Aging-Retired Senior Volunteer Program; $4,000 to purchase Groundwater Simulators, water testing kits, educational materials to continue education efforts.
South Middleton Parks, Recreation, Greenways & Trails, Cumberland County; $5,000 to install wayside exhibits at Spring Meadows Park.
Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education, Philadelphia; $4,720 to expand the Students’ Water Monitoring Network, develop water resources education lesson plans, and conduct workshops for teachers.
Titusville, Crawford County; $4,000 to develop educational materials and provide educational programs to the community.
Washington Township Water Department, Erie County; $4,060 to post Water Supply Area signs, conduct treatment plant tours, and implement a school groundwater education program.
Watershed Alliance of York, York County; $2,280 to purchase Groundwater Simulators and Enviroscape model for use by partnering organizations to conduct educational programs within the county.

Watershed Education

Watershed Education projects funded by WREN will prevent nonpoint source at the local level through a variety of activities which address one or more of the following NPS pollutant categories: agriculture, construction/urban runoff, resource extraction, land disposal (on-lot sewage systems), hydrologic and habitat modifications, and silviculture. These are activities identified in Pennsylvania’s NPS Management Program, approved by EPA in 1999 in compliance with Section 319 of the Clean Water Act.

Adams County Office of Planning & Development; $4,000 to print and distribute educational materials and design educational tools including presentations, indoor/outdoor displays, and an interpretive facility explaining stormwater BMP’s, stream morphology, wetlands, and floodplains.
Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay, Dauphin County; $3,880 to install raingardens and a rain barrel demonstration at the Homebuilders Association of Metropolitan Harrisburg office and develop educational tools.
Antietam Watershed Association (AWA), Franklin County; $2,000 to design educational display and produce brochures and tabletop placemats and present programs.
Brodhead Watershed Assn. w/ Stroudsburg H.S. Science Dept., Monroe County; $5,000 to establish an outdoor classroom/learning center at the high school, including placement of educational signs, and produce printed educational and appropriate curriculum packets for teachers.
Chiques Creek Watershed Alliance, Lancaster County; $1,500 to implement a stream monitoring and data collection program, results of which will be publicized in newsletters along with information about other water resources issues.
Clearfield County Senior Environment Corps $5,000 to design and produce an historical booklet for the Bicentennial Celebration explaining watersheds and nonpoint source pollution.
Friends of the Nescopeck, Luzerne, Schuylkill and Columbia Counties; $3,100 to create a multi-media education module about the watershed and present to municipal officials, citizen and landowner groups, schools, and businesses in the watershed.
Lake Erie-Allegheny Earth Force, Erie County; $4,000 to create and distribute newspaper insert about nonpoint source pollution issues using information collected from watershed assessments and the implementation of action plans devised by students.
Lebanon County Conservation District, Lebanon and Lancaster Counties; $2,210 to coordinate and conduct a Lancaster/Lebanon County watershed forum for individuals, watershed protection organizations and local officials that will provide tools for subsequent community education initiatives.
PA CleanWays of Huntingdon County, Huntingdon County; $2,030 to work with students to design an educational insert on land use impacts on groundwater for distribution in a local newspaper.
Pike County Conservation District; $4,000 to develop, print and distribute “Pike County Residents’ Guide to Resource Conservation”, designed to raise awareness in new and established county residents.
Plymouth Township Planning Commission, Luzerne County; $4,000 to conduct stormdrain stenciling, produce newsletters, develop website, host workshops, coordinate a stream cleanup, and conduct tours of the source water supply.
Riverbend Environmental Education Center, Schuylkill, Montgomery, Delaware, Chester and Philadelphia Counties; $4,830 to design and host a weeklong training institute on the Lower Schuylkill River for teachers and municipal officials.
Schuylkill County Conservation District, $2,000 to purchase LCD projector and initiate a loan program and technical training program to watershed groups and other partnering organizations in the county.
Venango Conservation District, Venango County; $2,450 to develop and host a county wide conference and site tour of watershed improvement projects and to create a three dimensional macro invertebrate display board and other educational displays to be used by organizations in the county for educational programs. Lance Bowes, 814-676-2832, lbowes@csonline.net

C-SAW a Boon to Watershed Groups

C-SAW, the Consortium for Scientific Assistance to Watersheds, is a team of specialists that provides technical assistance to watershed groups. Funded by a Growing Greener grant, experts from the Alliance for Aquatic Resource Monitoring (ALLARM) at Dickinson College, the Delaware Riverkeeper Network, Canaan Valley Institute, Stroud Water Research Center and the United States Geological Survey will provide a variety of technical assistance and mentoring to watershed groups as they grow and undertake projects in their area. Requests for assistance are made through the Resource Conservation and Development Council in your area. Visit the C-SAW website at http://pa.water.usgs.gov/csaw or call the Cannan Valley Institute at 1-888-549-7640 for more information.

Grants Available for Stream Name Signs

Pennsylvania Organization for Watersheds and Rivers (POWR) has teamed up with Resource Conservation and Development (RC&D) Councils statewide to provide funding for purchase and installation of stream name signs at road crossings throughout the state. Visit the POWR website, www.pawatersheds.org for information on the program and on how to contact your regional RC&D Council. All applications must be made through the RC&D Council.

Congratulations to the Greene County Watershed Alliance
recipient of a $800,000 EPA Watershed Initiative Grant to preserve and protect the Dunkard Creek watershed!

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

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