Polluted runoff = dirty water. Our recommendations to solve the problem.

In an effort to bring some much-needed attention to the Chesapeake Bay, PennFuture included Bay cleanup efforts in its recent report highlighting policies and action Gov. Tom Wolf and his administration can take to protect our environment.

The Chesapeake Bay isn’t on the minds of most Pennsylvanians, mainly because we don’t see the Bay every day, fish or swim there regularly, or rely on its oysters and crabs to fuel our economy. But it should be on our minds because it’s polluted -- and a significant amount of that pollution is coming from Pennsylvania’s rivers and streams.

In order to achieve a healthy Bay (and clean water here in Pennsylvania), states within the Chesapeake Bay watershed have committed to reduce pollutants enough to remove the Bay from the list of impaired waters by 2025, and to be 60 percent toward that goal by 2017. So far, Pennsylvania has had great success in reducing pollution from the wastewater treatment sector, but has fallen behind in meeting pollution reduction goals in the agriculture and stormwater sectors.

In an effort to get Pennsylvania back on track and achieve our clean water goals, we’re urging the Governor's administration to address significant sources of pollution -- agriculture, wastewater, and stormwater -- so that no single sector is responsible for more than its fair share.

Recommendations include:

Agriculture

Increased oversight of agricultural operations by the DEP; enforcement of all regulatory requirements; sufficient funding for DEP outreach and education; and technical and financial assistance to the agricultural community.

Stormwater

The DEP should take a leadership role in working with local governments to help promote formation of stormwater authorities and should develop a model stormwater fee ordinance to ensure funding for local stormwater management. See pg. 23 of the report for more details.

The DEP must ensure effective post-construction stormwater management (PCSM) by eliminating the PCSM exemption for activities that “require restoration.” See pg.13 of the report for more details.

Recently, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released an assessment of Pennsylvania’s Animal Agriculture Program, i.e., they reviewed DEP’s Agricultural Erosion and Sediment Control Program and the Manure and Nutrient Management Programs, among others. EPA found the programs lacked consistency and sufficient resources and found the data tracking and reporting systems lacking.  Shortfalls in the agricultural sector are especially problematic, given Pennsylvania expects to achieve three-quarters of its pollution reductions from agriculture. 

We’ve made our recommendations, and EPA has echoed our concerns. Now, the question remains: Is anyone listening?

Jennifer Quinn is central Pennsylvania outreach coordinator for PennFuture and is based in Harrisburg. She tweets @QuinnJen1.