Which Way to a Cleaner Chesapeake Bay?

Description

Did you know that half of the land area of Pennsylvania drains to the Chesapeake Bay? What about the fact that Pennsylvania is about 35 percent of the entire Chesapeake Bay Watershed?

The Chesapeake Bay is a National Treasure that unfortunately faces serious problems due to human activities including polluted stormwater runoff and over-fertilization. Even more unfortunate, these problems for the Chesapeake Bay start locally (think South Central, Pa and York Co. for this presentation) which means our local water quality also faces serious problems!

In this presentation, learn what water quality efforts have looked like since the 1972 signing of the Federal Clean Water Act up to present day and leave with a new perspective on what is currently going on to fix these problems locally.

1. Participants will be able to understand the Federal Clean Water Act, the Chesapeake Bay Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL), the PA Phase 3 Watershed Implementation Plan (WIP), and the importance of these 3 initiatives as they relate to water quality and the health of local streams, creeks, rivers, and the Chesapeake Bay.

2. Participants will be able to understand what efforts on a local (York County) level have lead us to present day and why the Integrated Water Resources Plan, Chesapeake Bay Pollutant Reduction Plan, and Stormwater Authority Implementation Plan are or were important to the health of local streams, creeks, rivers, and the Chesapeake Bay.

3. Participants will have an understanding of the Countywide Action Plan (CAP) for Clean Water, the goals of the plan, the current progress of implementation, and how the CAP’s are different than Plans of the past.

4. Participants will be given insight into how different industries can better support water quality efforts. There is funding available and partnerships that can be built, some of these will be outlined for further consideration outside of the presentation.

Presenter: Rachel Stahlman, CAP, Coordinator for York County Planning Commission

Click here for more information and to register!