Submitted by: Jolie Chylack, Environmental Education & Outreach Coordinator, Lehigh County Conservation District

As many students in the Lehigh Valley area are walking down the aisle to graduate from one of our regions notable secondary, undergraduate, or graduate learning institutions, we would like to highlight a conservation video production project that several senior students from Lehigh Carbon Community College recently completed in partnership with the Lehigh County Conservation District!

• Erosion Education Video: https://youtu.be/bjAYHjG7XvM
• Watershed Education Video: https://youtu.be/eJ_FwTzcy2I
• Environmental Education Video: https://youtu.be/mDkV-I73Wb8

Click here to read more. 

Armstrong Conservation District’s H2Oh! on the GO! mobile exhibit will be parked at the NACD Northeast Regional Meeting & PACD/SCC Joint Annual Conference from July 15-18, 2018. The Armstrong Conservation District is generously making this interactive, educational, traveling exhibit available for our attendees to explore during the conference.

The conference is taking place at the DoubleTree Resort by Hilton Hotel, Lancaster, PA. Click here to register or for more information. 

The Cumberland County Conservation District sponsored a series of one-day events for volunteers to learn about Nonpoint Source Pollution and water quality in the Conodoguinet Creek Watershed. Volunteers collected water samples and analyzed the results. Water quality data included pH, conductivity, temperature, and nitrogen and phosphorus rates.

Financial and other support for this project is provided by the Pennsylvania Association of Conservation Districts, Inc. through a grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection under Section 319 of the Clean Water Act, administered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Click here to read the “Conodoguinet Creek Watershed Snapshot” which includes results of the monitoring.

On May 18, 2018 PACD Executive Director Brenda Shambaugh traveled to Tioga County to attend a legislative event. The 2018 Tioga County Conservation District legislative luncheon was held at the Tokishi Building in Wellsboro. The district highlighted upcoming projects for their area and answered questions about programs throughout the county.

 

Tioga County Conservation District, PA DEP, Shell, Gas Field Specialists, and Northern Tier Solid Waste Authority joined forces on Thursday, April 19, to clean up a challenging illegal dump site, known as “Site 24,” to eliminate a potential source of pollution to the Cowanesque River.

The cleanup resulted in the removal of 3.17 Tons of accumulated waste material and 3.81 Tons of tires (277 tires) from an abandoned railroad grade adjacent to the Cowanesque River. Heavy equipment provided by Shell was used to remove the material from the steep embankment and placed in roll-off containers provided by Northern Tier Solid Waste Authority.

Click here to read the entire press release.

 

The Westmoreland Conservation District received a Nonpoint Source Pollution Prevention Educational Mini-grant through PACD’s 2017-18 round. With this funding, the district developed two informational videos about stormwater basin design, assessment, and maintenance to help educate municipal staff, engineers, and others about the role of basins in stormwater management.

The videos were displayed at the district’s annual Municipal Roundtable and Engineers’ Workshop.

Financial and other support for this project is provided by the Pennsylvania Association of Conservation Districts, Inc. through a grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection under Section 319 of the Clean Water Act, administered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Click here to view Part 1: https://youtu.be/oSWJWTjEB54 and here for Part 2: https://youtu.be/Y0lhtrxM7uk.

The Allegheny County Conservation District collected over 30 bags of trash on April 23, 2018, along Little Deer Creek Valley Road as part of PennDOT’s Adopt A Highway Program. Ten staff members participated in the two-mile clean up to mark the District’s fourth year adopting a highway.

Montgomery County Conservation District (MCCD) was awarded a 2017-18 Nonpoint Source Pollution Prevention Educational Mini-grant for a “Storm Drains to Streams: Pollution Prevention Education for Businesses” project.

For the project, MCCD and the Partnership for the Delaware Estuary’s Schuylkill Action Network partnered with Simon Property Group to host an Earth Week Pollution Prevention Mixer for the King of Prussia restaurant, food service, and hospitality community. The event was held at King of Prussia Mall on April 24, 2018, and was attended by 50 individuals.

Attendees included (but were not limited to) several hotel, restaurant facility, and business managers from the King of Prussia area.

The goal of the event was to educate the target audience about cost-effective, good housekeeping practices/actions that are recommended to prevent water pollution and protect clean water. The event also provided an opportunity for the Montgomery County Office of Public Health to stress the importance of implementing such practices to improve community health and safety.

Financial and other support for this project is provided by the Pennsylvania Association of Conservation Districts, Inc. through a grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection under Section 319 of the Clean Water Act, administered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

 

Click here to read the entire article written by Jessica Buck, MCCD Interim District Manager. 

Regional Conservation Partnership Program: “CCCD Partnership for Chesapeake Bay Water Quality”

Submitted by Dan Miloser, Agricultural Team Leader, Chester County Conservation District

The Chester County Conservation District (CCCD) is proud to announce its award for $3.6 million to fund Farm Bill financial assistance applicants in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed by working with USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and agricultural consultants to develop plans and install conservation practices.

CCCD proposed that applicants be given a higher ranking score based on willingness to implement or maintain a stream buffer and commitment to work with one or more of the district’s partners to develop plans and/or best management practices (BMPs). As part of a new initiative for this program, CCCD staff will conduct site visits with each landowner after his or her contract is complete to ensure continued operation and maintenance of onsite BMPs.

In response to the nationwide RCPP announcement, CCCD Managing Director Chris Strohmaier said, “As a result of an increased demand for funding to implement BMPs in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed, the Chester County District is very excited to have been awarded funds through RCPP to supplement our traditional funding allocations to continue our mission of: Conserving Soil for Clean Water.” 

Click here for more information on RCPP.

On April 5, PACD Executive Director Brenda Shambaugh traveled to Northumberland County for the district’s legislative breakfast. During the breakfast, the district thanked state legislators and the commissioners for their continued support.