New report shows PA failing to reduce water pollution

I’ve written many times on this blog about pollution fouling our local waters and ultimately making its way to the Chesapeake Bay, and I’ve also written about the plan to clean up the Bay and its watershed by 2025. In this plan, the Bay states have committed to incremental goals, or milestones, that help track each state's progress in reducing water pollution from agriculture, stormwater, and wastewater.

Earlier this week, the Choose Clean Water Coalition (CCWC), of which we are state lead organization for Pennsylvania, and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation released their joint Milestones Report which details whether or not the Bay states are on track to meet their water pollution reduction goals.

There are reports for each of the Bay states and Washington, D.C. but I’ll focus on Pennsylvania. After a quick look at the report, it’s clear that Pennsylvania is way off track when it comes to reducing pollution from the agriculture and stormwater sectors. This is troubling because these two sectors contribute the largest amounts of pollution to our waters and the Bay. The one sector where Pennsylvania has met its goals is the wastewater sector.

However, there is still time for Pennsylvania to get back on track. To better manage stormwater, our Department of Environmental Protection should promote the formation of regional stormwater authorities to local governments. To reduce pollution from agriculture, increased outreach and technical and financial assistance to farmers can ensure increased adoption of conservation practices that will keep soils and nutrients in place and out of our waters.

The plan to clean up the Bay will only work if all sources of pollution do their fair share. Along with accountability measures, the plan contains consequences such as requiring further costly reductions from wastewater treatment plants if we cannot get the necessary pollution reductions from agriculture or stormwater.

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

PennFuture goes to Washington

On March 5, PennFuture staff will be heading to Washington, D.C., for the Choose Clean Water Coalition’s third annual Bay Day on the Hill. In our efforts to improve water quality in the Susquehanna River and, in turn, the Chesapeake Bay, it is essential for us to engage with our elected officials.  Members of the Coalition will be requesting support for programs that are essential to maintaining and restoring clean water throughout the Bay watershed.

We will be seeking funding for the Environmental Protection Agency’s Chesapeake Bay Program, which is a regional partnership comprised of federal and state agencies, local governments, nonprofit organizations and academic institutions that leads and directs restoration of the Bay. The majority of the Bay Program’s funds make their way to states and local communities for important on-the-ground restoration work through programs like the Small Watershed Grants (SWG), Innovative Nutrient and Sediment Reduction Grants (INSR), State Implementation Grants, and the Chesapeake Bay Regulatory and Accountability Program grants.

The INSR grants have supported approximately 122 on-the-ground conservation projects that provide innovative approaches to accelerating adoption of cost effective and sustainable nutrient and sediment pollution reductions throughout the watershed. The SWG grants have supported approximately 229 conservation projects that contribute to improving water quality throughout the watershed and to the overall health of the Chesapeake Bay.

We will also be seeking support for the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF), which provides low interest loans to local governments in Delaware, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia for capital construction projects at wastewater treatment facilities and nonpoint source pollution control from farms and development. Almost 1,800 local governments are eligible for these loans and over the past twenty-five years, the CWSRF has provided over 33,320 low interest loans.

Meeting with elected officials is something we do as advocates for the environment because it’s important to educate, engage, and hold accountable the folks who make the decisions that impact us all. But it’s not something just for us to do -- it’s something all citizens should be doing. Whether your concerns are clean water, clean air, sustainability, or renewable energy, speak up! Contact your elected officials and tell them what matters to you and why it matters.

To quote Dr. Seuss’s The Lorax, “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not.”

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