PA Environment Digest
An Update On Environmental Issues InPA
Edited By: David E. Hess, Crisci Associates
Winner 2009PAEE Business PartnerOf The Year AwardHarrisburg, PaOctober 17, 2011Western PA Conservancy Watershed Conservation Program Celebrates 10th Anniversary
Ten years ago, theWestern Pennsylvania Conservancystarted a program to provide technical assistance to watershed groupsaround the region. Nick Pinizzotto was the lone employee of whatwas then known as theWatershed Assistance Center .This “one-stop shop” was designed to help groups with avariety of water conservation needs--from learning how to prepare grant proposals to accessing technical resources and planning tools.
(Photo: Watershed staff installs a multilog vane deflector inTubmill Creek, used for erosion control and creation of fishhabitat.Click Here for other photos.)
Pinizzotto finished that first year realizing just howimportant such a center was for Western Pennsylvania. With itsmission and scope of work rapidly expanding, the program and its six full-time employees soonmoved to a new office in Blairsville that could accommodate the increasing demands.The program’s growth continued through what Pinizzotto describes as, “calculated risk-taking that made good business and conservation sense.”Today, the Watershed Conservation Program is a comprehensive resource for practicallyanything related to protecting rivers and streams. Program staff is adept at identifying watershed problems, designing solutions, securing proper permitting with local governments to do the work and ensuring that conservation measures are in place.“There is almost nothing in terms of water quality that we don’t get involved with or can’t do,” said Pinizzotto, who indicated a strong foundation was laid in the early years of the program.“We recognized where there were needs and we found creative ways to meet them,” saidPinizzotto, now associate vice president of WPC’s Watershed Conservation Program. “Weweren’t afraid to take on new things or to take risks. It is a testament to the Conservancy that itsleadership let this program grow. I never felt handcuffed or held back.”
Pinizzotto and his team recognized early on, for instance, that agriculture has one of themost significant impacts on the region’s waterways. Crops planted in floodplains and cowsgrazing near streams cause fertilizer and manure to overload water with nutrients.However, many farmers lack the financial and planning resources to implement bestmanagement practices. Within the program’s first three years, Pinizzotto’s group created acomprehensive agriculture assistance program to help with the design and installation of featureslike cattle fences and barn gutters.To date, more than 500 farmers have participated in the program.While the Watershed Conservation Program continues to focus on its original objectives,it has expanded its services and staff of biologists, natural resource managers, geographers andothers, to meet the needs of this program.The program staff now occupies an expanded office near the Indiana University of Pennsylvania’s campus in Indiana, Pa. The office includes a library, a conference room withstate-of-the-art technology, new cubicles and a large fish tank with Pennsylvania native trout.A small laboratory at the new site houses field specimens and upgraded scientificequipment, including two top-of-the-line microscopes that help scientists identify even thesmallest macro-invertebrates. Other equipment enables them to classify aquatic life, conductwater quality and chemistry tests and conduct visual assessments.Despite significant growth, the program has not lost sight of its original goal to providegrassroots assistance to watershed organizations.“Our initial interaction with the Conservancy’s watershed program was over five yearsago when they helped us obtain a Growing Greener grant from the state,” said Jim Powell,chairman of the Buffalo Creek Watershed Association. “We developed one of the first watershed protection plans. Most plans were about remediation. Our plan was designed to protect thestream, because Buffalo Creek is a pristine waterway.”Since then, WPC has worked with the Buffalo Creek Watershed Association on other initiatives including outreach. Last fall, WPC staff showed more than 30 Boy Scouts on DutchFork Creek how to catch and monitor fish. Last August, the two groups collaborated on astreambank improvement project.“I speak for all of the watershed association members; it has been a wonderful experienceworking with Nick and his staff. They have been most helpful,” Powell said. Mike Pardee of theLittle Mahoning Creek Watershed Association had similar praise.“We’ve done quite a few projects with the Conservancy that made a tremendous impacton Little Mahoning Creek,” he said, referring to grant-writing, a dam removal, and a litter pickupthat yielded 33 tons of trash. “We now see fish in the creek and mussels along the stream banks.”An article in the May 2001 issue of Conserve outlined the center’s original four objectives. They were:--
Provide technical assistance to watershed groups
and like-minded organizations. Sincethen, the Watershed Conservation Program has provided technical assistance to nearly 550different entities; most of them are in Western Pennsylvania, but some are as far away as Hawaii.--
Abate point and non-point source pollution
. Today, the program works to address all typesof pollution from erosion and sedimentation to abandoned mine drainage. This is accomplishedthrough direct implementation of best management practices, most of which are designed and built by WPC staff.
--
Protect high-quality watersheds
. The Watershed Conservation Program has helped protectand restore dozens of high-quality watersheds. This includes removing unnecessary dams, building new stream buffers and helping to develop numerous watershed management plans for implementation by program partners. The program has specific initiatives to protect and restoreseveral biologically diverse waterways, such as Little Mahoning Creek, which hosts a variety of freshwater mussels, salamanders and fish. The program has protected and restored over 1,500miles of streams and rivers.--
Restore degraded streambeds
. To date, WCP staff has installed nearly 100 miles of stream bank fencing. Over the last three years alone, more than 25,000 feet of degraded stream bankshave been improved. As part of that work, more than 700 best management practices wereimplemented.For more information, visit WPC'sWatershed Conservation Programwebpage.
TU Chapters, More Local Governments Join Renew Growing Greener Coalition
TheRenew Growing Greener CoalitionFriday announced the following local chapters of TroutUnlimited have joined the statewide chapter in the push to restore state funding for GrowingGreener: Columbia County; Spring Creek (Centre County); Muddy Creek (York County); ForbesTrail (Westmoreland County); Chestnut Ridge(Fayette County); Lloyd Wilson (ClintonCounty); and Forks of the Delaware (Lehigh Valley).“The members of Trout Unlimited recognize the important role Growing Greener plays intheir mission of conserving, protecting and restoring our streams and waterways,” said AndrewHeath, executive director of the Renew Growing Greener Coalition. “The Coalition urges thelegislature to heed the public and allocate a portion of any revenues from a Marcellus Shaleimpact fee toward offsetting the statewide environmental impacts of natural gas drilling.”ThePA Council of Trout Unlimited, which represents approximately 12,000 membersacross the Commonwealth, has been a supporting member of the Renew Growing Greener Coalition for the past year.These groups have signed the Coalition’s Statement of Support,which calls for a dedicated and sustainable source of revenue to support the renewal of GrowingGreener.They join more than 230 other organizations and groups that have also announced their support for renewing Growing Greener."More than 20 Trout Unlimited chapters in Pennsylvania have put Growing Greener funding to work on rivers and streams in local communities," said Ken Undercoffer, chairman of the Pennsylvania Council of Trout Unlimited."Coldwater fisheries throughout theCommonwealth have benefited from that work and countless other Growing Greener-funded projects."More Local GovernmentsAdditionally, the Coalition announced nine more municipalities have adopted resolutionsin support of Growing Greener. They include: Butler Township, Adams County; GermanyTownship, Adams County; Buckingham Township, Bucks County; Chalfont Borough, BucksCounty; Doylestown Township, Bucks County; Quakertown Borough, Bucks County; Lancaster
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