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January 2000
Water Policy News
Newsletter of the Water Resources Education Network

In this Issue

WREN Grants Available
Growing Greener Dollars Start Flowing
Pennsylvania a Leader as Groundwater Guardians
Source Water Protection in the Swatara Watershed
Resources
National Drinking Water Online Resources
Drinking Water Database

WREN Grants Available
The Water Resources Education Network of PA (WREN), has grant funding available for a limited number of community based projects that address the issue of protecting and improving the source waters for the community's public drinking water system or the community's watershed. The grants, up to $3,000 each, will be awarded to coalitions of local or regional organizations such as civic groups, governmental entities (including municipal authorities), and other public interest organizations which focus on educating citizens about issues surrounding the protection and improvement of community's public drinking water supply or the community's watershed. In particular, the projects should focus on improving cooperation between the public and local government officials to protect the community's drinking water sources or its watershed.

Proposals must be submitted by Monday, April 3 and winning proposals will be announced by May 15, 2000. Project Leaders of the winning proposals are expected to attend the WREN Orientation Meeting on June 15 (beginning at 4:00 pm) and June 16 (ending about 5:00 pm) in Boiling Springs, Cumberland County PA at no cost to the grantee.

To receive a copy of the Request for Proposals for the water protection projects, contact Margaret Pollard at the League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania Citizen Information Center at (800)692-7281, ext. 11. You may also fax your request (Organization name, contact,mailing address, phone, fax, and email) to the Citizen Information Center at (717) 234-1576. For information about previously funded projects, visit the WREN grants page on the site.

Growing Greener Dollars Start Flowing
Applications for watershed restoration and protection grants authorized by the Growing Greener initiative are being accepted now by the Dept. of Environmental Protection.

Counties, local governments, authorities, conservation districts, watershed associations and other nonprofit groups involved in watershed restoration and protection are eligible to apply.

The new grants can fund a wide variety of watershed projects, including installing stream buffers, fencing streams, treating or eliminating acid mine drainage, restoring wetlands, reclaiming abandoned mines, watershed assessments and education programs.

The deadline for grant applications is Feb. 11, 2000.

The Growing Greener initiative will provide nearly $650 million over five years for watershed projects, preservation of open space, improvements to state parks, and sewer and water system improvements. To get an application, apply online or get more information, visit DEP's website at http://www.dep.state.pa.us (choose Growing Greener Grants Center). Application packets also can be requested by sending your name, postal address and phone number by e-mail to: GrowingGreener@dep.state.pa.us or by calling toll-free 877 PAGREEN.

GRANTS CALENDAR

FEB. 11 Growing Greener applications due

APRIL 3 WREN projects applications due

MAY 15 WREN projects announced

JUNE 15-16 WREN projects wrap-up/orientation meeting

Pennsylvania a Leader as Groundwater Guardians
Seven Pennsylvania communities recently earned Groundwater Guardian designation for 1999 and were recognized at the Groundwater Guardian National Designation Ceremony, held in conjunction with the Groundwater Foundation's Fall Symposium held November 14-17 in Atlanta, Georgia. The Groundwater Guardian communities of Allegheny County, Antis Township (Blair County), Kutztown Borough/Berks County, Lebanon County, Mars Area School District (Lawrence County), Telford/West Rockhill/Hilltown/Salford/Franconia (Montgomery County), and Washington County, are all in at least their second straight year of Groundwater Guardian designation. Washington County, Antis Township, and Kutztown Borough/Berks County have achieved Groundwater Guardian status every year since 1995. To learn more about each of these communities' groundwater protection efforts and accomplishments, visit Groundwater Guardians.

The Water Resources Education Network (WREN) also earned Groundwater Guardian designation in 1999, marking its third straight year of designation as a Groundwater Guardian Affiliate. Sherene Hess, WREN project director, attended the National Designation Ceremony and accepted the official Groundwater Guardian plaque and road sign from the Groundwater Foundation on behalf of WREN.

The Groundwater Foundation, a nonprofit educational foundation dedicated to educating the public about the conservation and protection of groundwater, began the Groundwater Guardian Program in 1994. With a total participation of 150 communities, 40 affiliates, and 21 partners in 35 states and two Canadian provinces in 1999, the Guardian program supports, recognizes, and connects communities protecting groundwater. Designed to empower government entities, utilities, local citizens and communities to take voluntary steps toward protecting their groundwater resources, the program is a catalyst for groundwater protection programs such as conservation, local watershed protection or source water protection programs. Groundwater Guardian encourages communities to begin groundwater awareness and protection activities, supports the community in their efforts, and recognizes their achievements.

The first step in becoming a Groundwater Guardian Community is the formation of a local Groundwater Guardian Team representing local citizens, business and/or agriculture, education, and government. The team could be an existing organization or a new collaboration. The community may be a city, township, county, watershed, or other geographic area with a common interest in groundwater protection. The role of the Groundwater Guardian Team is to gather information about local groundwater resources; to raise public awareness of the need for protection, conservation and pollution prevention; and to encourage intergovernmental cooperation and the development of policies for protecting groundwater resources. For more information about how to become a Groundwater Guardian Community, visit http://www.groundwater.org/ or call Sherene Hess at 724-465-2595.

Source Water Protection in the Swatara Watershed
The Swatara Creek Watershed covers 547 sq. miles of the Lower Susquehanna Basin in portions of Schuylkill, Berks, Lebanon and Dauphin Counties. From the ridges of the Appalachian chain to the Susquehanna River at Middletown, the watershed includes a diversity of land uses and geologic types. The population centers around the Route 422 corridor and the rest of the watershed is mainly agricultural or forest land. Three fairly large public water suppliers use surface water as their source and many smaller systems use groundwater.

Last spring the Susquehanna River Basin Commission [SRBC] initiated a Source Water Protection Community Partnership Project in the Swatara Creek Watershed by bringing together public water suppliers, dischargers, agencies, local officials, the Swatara Creek Watershed Association and other community groups in a series of meetings to examine existing water quality issues and to explore the role of community partnerships in finding ways to protect groundwater and surface water sources of public supplies.

The SRBC collected data and created GIS maps of the watershed showing land use; geology; location of water supply intakes and Zone 2 wellhead protection areas; roads, bridges, and railroads; NPDES discharge permit locations; and the current DEP Bureau of Water Quality assessment of streams in the watershed. The maps were helpful in discussions of the impacts of point and nonpoint source pollution on public water suppliers.

Recommendations were made to expand the partnership between public water suppliers and community groups to monitor the watershed, educate the public and work with local officials to take steps to protect the land areas critical to public water sources. Many of these will be implemented as a Swatara Creek Conservation Plan is developed. Contact Betty Conner at 717-274-3826 for more information.

RESOURCES
SUSTAINABILITY OF GROUND-WATER RESOURCES (U. S. Geological Survey Circular 1186, 1999, 79 pp) written for a wide audience to illustrate the hydrologic, geologic and ecological concepts that must be considered to assure the wise and sustainable use of our precious groundwater resources.

INFLUENCE OF LAND USE AND OPEN-WATER WETLANDS ON WATER QUALITY IN THE LAKE WALLENPAUPACK BASIN, NORTHEASTERN PENNSYLVANIA (U. S. Geological Survey Water Resources Investigations Report 98-4186, 1998, 56 pp) developed to help plan for responsible development in the Lake Wallenpaupack watershed.

OCCURRENCE OF ORGANOCHLORINE COMPOUNDS IN WHOLE FISH TISSUE FROM STREAMS OF THE LOWER SUSQUEHANNA RIVER BASIN, PENNSYLVANIA AND MARYLAND, 1992 (U. S. Geological Survey Water Resources Investigations Report 99-4065, 1999, 17 pp) report of the National Water-Quality Assessment Program.

SUMMARY OF HYDROGEOLOGIC AND GROUND-WATER QUALITY DATA AND HYDROGEOLOGIC FRAMEWORK AT SELECTED WELL SITES, ADAMS COUNTY, PA (U. S. Geological Survey Water Resources Investigations Report 99-4108) provides data for evaluation of capabilities of water systems to meet projected growth and begin wellhead protection programs for public-supply wells.

RADON IN THE GROUND WATER OF CHESTER COUNTY (U. S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet 120-98, December 1998, 4 pp) a public education tool for Chester County residents.

A NEW TOOL FOR WATER QUALITY, MAKING WATERSHED-BASED TRADING WORK FOR YOU (National Wildlife Federation, June 1999, 56 pp) part of NWF's Saving Our Watersheds project, designed to help citizens in their watershed cleanup and protection efforts. Available from NWF, 58 State St., Montpelier, VT 05602, 802-229-0650, fax: 802-229-4532, website: www.nwf.org.

DIRECTORY OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE ORGANIZATIONS IN PENNSYLVANIA (Penn State Cooperative Extension, April 1999, 21 pp) provides contact information for a variety of PA organizations. Available from Dr. Charles Abdalla, Penn State University, 814-865-2562, fax: 814-865-3746, email: CAbdalla@psu.edu.

THE EFFECTS OF ACIDIC DEPOSITION ON PENNSYLVANIA'S FORESTS (Pennsylvania State University, 1999) summarizes the forest health papers presented at the 1998 Pensylvania Acidic Deposition Conference . Available for $10 from Joy Drohan, 125 Land and Water Research Bldg., University Park, PA 16802, 814-863-0037, fax: 814-865-3378, email: jdrohan@psu.edu.

WICONISCO CREEK WATERSHED ASSESSMENT AND PLAN (Susquehanna River Basin Commission, Pub. No. 206, 1999) an assessment of the environmental health and a plan for managing nonpoint source pollution in the watershed. Available from Pat Adams, SRBC, 1721 No. Front St., Harrisbirg, PA 17102, 717-238-0423, fax: 717-238-2436, website: http://ww.srbc.net.

NATIONAL DRINKING WATER CLEARINGHOUSE ON-LINE RESOURCES
The National Drinking Water Clearinghouse, an EPA funded program operating out of West Virginia University, assists small and rural communities with drinking water needs. Their 1999 Drinking Water Products Catalog and 1999 Outreach Resource Guide are now available, on-line or in hard copy. NDWC also has developed a searchable database of popular drinking water treatment technologies. Known as the Registry of Equipment Suppliers of Treatment Technologies for Small Systems, or RESULTS 3.0, the database can help small systems consider different technologies for use at treatment plants. Visit the NDWC website at http://www.ndwc.wvu.edu for any of these resources. Or order the Catalog, Resource Guide or a disc version of the RESULTS database by calling 800-624-8301.

DRINKING WATER DATABASE
The National Drinking Water Contaminant Occurrence Database is available at: http:// www.epa.gov/ncod
other drinking water info at: http://www.epa.gov/safewater

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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