PA Environment Digest Blog: DEP, Local Partners Celebrate Stream Restoration Investments In Little Conestoga Creek Watershed, Lancaster County

On April 23, Department of Environmental Protection Acting Secretary Jessica Shirley and members of the Lancaster Clean Water Partners gathered at the Blue Green Connector Project to celebrate stream and floodplain restoration investments on Little Conestoga Creek.

Support for the project included more than $4 million in state funds and the ongoing work of an innovative partnership led by the Little Conestoga Creek Foundation and Steinman Foundation.

Click Here for video from the event.

The Blue Green Connector in Lancaster County is a prime example of how sustained investments through programs like Growing Greener are restoring watersheds, reducing pollution, and increasing outdoor recreational opportunities across Pennsylvania’s share of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed.

Acting Secretary Jessica Shirley and project partners offered remarks and toured a stream restoration site as part of DEP’s Earth Week events.

“DEP is proud to be part of the ongoing effort to restore Little Conestoga Creek, reduce pollution, improve flood resiliency, and create the Blue Green Connector. This project will provide environmental education in a recreational setting, strengthening the community’s connection to nature,” said Acting DEP Secretary Jessica Shirley. “Children who have meaningful environmental experiences become better stewards of our natural resources as adults, so it was fitting to visit this project serving an Environmental Justice area as we celebrate Earth Week.”

The Shapiro Administration invested more than $4 million in the ongoing environmental restoration work in the Little Conestoga watershed, including more than $3 million in Growing Greener grants, which helped secure matching federal funds, and a Countywide Water Quality Improvement Action Plan (CAP) Block Grant of $440,000.

DEP has also provided technical assistance and streamlined permitting oversight for the project.

With this essential funding, the project has completed 50% of the restoration planned for the Little Conestoga Creek along the Blue Green Connector to date.

Little Conestoga Creek is a priority watershed under Lancaster County’s water quality improvement plan.

The ongoing Blue Green Connector project includes the restoration of 25 acres of floodplain and wetland along 1.3 stream miles; the removal of 112,000 cubic yards of legacy sediment, which are soils that eroded from upstream areas; the planting of native vegetation and habitat creation for wildlife; and the annual reduction of 4 million pounds of sediment, 1,541 pounds of phosphorus, and 7,752 pounds of nitrogen from the Chesapeake Bay watershed.

“Lancaster's shared vision of clean and clear water by 2040 needs projects like the Blue Green Connector,” said Allyson Gibson, Executive Director of Lancaster Clean Water Partners. “This project is at a scale that helps us achieve not only local water quality improvements as outlined in our CAP, but also inspires innovative thinking and requires reaching out to neighbors, inviting them to learn about and live in this system together.”

The Blue Green Connector will include 3.44 miles of multi-modal, accessible trail, linked to the fifteen-mile Greater Lancaster Heritage Pathway and five miles of existing trails, serving 225,000 residents in the Lancaster metropolitan area.

A trailside environmental learning lab with interpretive stations, demonstration areas, outdoor learning spaces, and public art is planned.

“We hope that this project catalyzes others to address water quality and ecosystem health throughout Lancaster County, and recognize that recreational and educational opportunities improve the quality of life in our community,” said Shane Zimmerman, CEO of the Steinman Foundation.

Growing Greener is the largest single investment of state funds in Pennsylvania's history to address critical environmental concerns.

Growing Greener grants can be awarded to watershed groups, local or county government, municipal authorities, county planning commissions, county conservation districts, council of governments, educational institutions, or non-profit organizations. Grantees have up to three years to implement their projects.

For more information on funding opportunities, visit the Growing Greener Plus Grant Program webpage.

Click Here for the DEP announcement. Click Here for video from the event.

How Clean Is Your Stream?

The draft 2024 report has an interactive report viewer that allows you to zoom in to your own address to see if the streams near you are impaired and why.

Click Here to check out your streams. Click Here for a tutorial on using the viewer.

For more information on environmental programs in Pennsylvania, visit DEP’s website. Submit Environmental Complaints; Click Here to sign up for DEP’s newsletter; sign up for DEP’s eNotice; Like DEP on Facebook, Follow DEP on Twitter and visit DEP’s YouTube Channel.