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October
2000 In this Issue What's New? What's
New? At the Youth Summit students will participate in teams which develop a solution to a problem given to them, and then give a presentation on their solution. Claire and her students have received scholarship support from WREN as well as from the Groundwater Foundation. Opportunity Grants have been awarded to:
Flood Kids Video Shares Water Quality Message Protecting Our Watersheds -Best Management Practices and Nonpoint Source Pollution is a 30 minute video filmed by AT&T Cable Services. It will be aired on the LWV of Bucks County Lets Talk program and on Greenworks, a cable TV show which highlights successful programs around the state. Copies of the video will be provided to other schools and local libraries and may be borrowed from the WREN Resource Center (800-692-7281). F. D. Roosevelt Middle School, in the Bristol Township School District received a WREN grant that helped produce the video. Kathleen Horwatt's seventh and eighth grade students have been studying the Core Creek watershed in Lower Makefield, Newtown and Middletown townships for three years. They have explored causes of flooding and sources of pollution in the watershed and have taken what they have learned to local policy makers. Now they have produced a video to share their information with a larger audience. The students also researched Best Management Practices to control flooding and reduce polluted runoff. They worked with, and learned from, local, county, state and federal agency representatives. Their presentations include explanations of watersheds, flood plains, and impervious surface cover, filling of wetlands, stream channel alterations and how these interact to impact streams. The students hope to increase watershed protection through increasing knowledge and awareness of watershed issues, both in the general public and in those who make the local decisions that affect land use and thus water quality and quantity. For more information about Flood Kids, contact Kathleen Horwatt, kathorwatt@aol.com. Know
Your Watershed Address Watershed
Education at Dennis Creek "Getting
in Step" Highlight of WREN Meeting
Tonning then gave in-depth hints for working with the media using a quote from Daniel Shorr of National Public Radio to bring the need home, "If you don't exist in the media, for all practical purposes, you don't exist." Pike
County Workshop Builds Watershed Interest The group will sponsor a public meeting on October 7 to explain the watershed concept and how an association can help protect the water resources of the Shohola watershed. Pike County, a largely rural area, is now the fastest growing county in Pennsylvania. Pike County CD received a WREN grant to conduct several citizen workshops on the importance of the area's water resources. The workshops include a citizen water quality monitoring workshop, the watershed workshop and a drinking water protection clinic. Sally Jones is the watershed specialist and contact, 570-226-8220. GIS
Software Grants a Real Bargain The grant program provides local groups with the latest version of Arcview software, the powerful data management and mapping tool used by planners and educators to produce maps that show graphically what is happening in a specific region. For example, using GIS software you can model your watershed and show how much is covered with impervious surfaces, or where stream buffers are needed, or where areas that are "hotspots" for polluted runoff occur. The secret to a successful grant application is to work with your regional
DEP watershed coordinator and then apply on-line on DEP's website. Look
for http://www.dep.state.pa.us/external_gis/GIS_Information.htm
which will take you directly to the DEP GIS Software Grant information
page and on-line application form. About 10 grants are awarded quarterly,
and groups receiving the software are required to attend a two-day weekend
training session at the Environmental Resources Research Institute Penn
State University. The training is excellent; you'll be able to create
your own maps at the end of the program. Resources Pollution Paralysis II - Code Red for Watersheds (National Wildlife Federation, 2000, 89 pp.) A sequel to a 1997 study, this report analyzes and grades federal and state programs for protecting waters from polluted runoff (PA gets a C). The report explains the use of TMDLs as a tool for protecting watersheds and discusses the proposed EPA rules and how they can be improved. Available for $6 from National Wildlife Federation, 734-769-3351 or on-line at http://www.nwf.org/watersheds. Distribution of Major Herbicides in Ground Water of the United States (Us Geological Survey, 2000) reports on extent of herbicide contamination in groundwater based on two studies: USGS National Water Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program and the Midwest Pesticide Study, showing widespread detection in groundwater systems but at levels below those considered a health hazard. Available from USGS, Branch of Information Services, Box 25286, Denver, CO 80225-0286. May be available online at http://water.usgs.gov/pubs/ Liquid Assets 2000: America's Water Resources at a Turning Point (US Environmental Protection Agency, EPA-840-B-00-001, 2000, 16 pp.) Reviews the current conditions of our water resources, the cost, in dollars and public health, of dirty water and the value of clean water to individuals and business. Available from the National Service Center for Environmental Publications, 800-490-9198 or on-line at http://www.epa.gov.ow Opportunity Knocks - Open Space as a Community Investment (Heritage Conservancy, 2000 ) looks at the cost of purchasing land and conservation easements vs the shortfall in taxes to pay for public schools if the land is developed. The report looks at the experience of 14 Bucks County municipalities that have made open space preservation a priority. Available from the Heritage Conservancy, 215-345-7020. Clean Water Report Card (Environmental Working Group, 2000) examines 6700 major facilities with National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits to determine whether they were operating with expired permits and ranks states according to percentage of expired permits. Eleven percent of major facilities in PA are operating with expired permits. The report makes recommendations to EPA on ways to correct the problem. Available from EWG at 202-667-6982 or on-line at http://www.ewg.org MTBE Reports PA Organization for Watersheds and Rivers Center for Watershed Stewardship Center for Watershed Protection 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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