Eight Sub-Watershed Clusters: What? Why? Where?
Eight Sub-Watershed Clusters: What? Why? Where? As urban development, suburban sprawl, industrialized agriculture, energy infrastructure, and other development continue to adversely affect the environment from New York to Delaware, the region’s need for a comprehensive approach to protecting and restoring its most precious resource – water – has become increasingly self-evident. Fishermen cannot eat the fish they catch; swimmers cannot swim in rivers and streams; boaters must avoid certain areas; children are told to stay out of the water at beaches; some rivers cannot sustain marine life; drinking water intakes are just downstream of dangerously polluted waters; the list goes on. Clean water is the lifeblood of our industry, economic opportunity and health. While it is possible for us to have healthy waterways in the Delaware River watershed, we must find new ways to drive successful stewardship of this region that provides drinking water to 15 million people and supports $25 billion in waterrelated jobs and industry. In the summer of 2013, more than 40 leading conservation organizations developed plans to address specific threats to water quality in eight targeted and ecologically significant geographies of the Delaware River watershed. In total, the plans identify $228 million of essential conservation work needed to make measurable headway on water quality over the next ten years. By design, the projects identified in the plans are aimed at mitigating or avoiding specific stressors in specific places, where positive impact is achievable, and ongoing monitoring can enable informed decisions to scale up or replicate successful projects for greater impact. Initial investment by the William Penn Foundation will implement key elements of the plans and lay the groundwork for additional evidence-based investment and conservation work to follow. Partnership will be critical to success. William Penn Foundation is supporting four major areas of investment: Local operations and cross-cutting innovation through support for project development, community outreach, organizing, and research. The William Penn Foundation is supporting 46 of the region’s highest performing conservation organizations and research institutions through grants totaling $15 million over three years. Restoration activities include on-the-ground work such as tree planting, stream bank stabilization, installation of agricultural best management practices (BMPs), and other capital intensive projects. The William Penn Foundation is supporting this work through a $7 million grant to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to set up a restoration focused re-grant fund. Organizations from all eight subwatersheds will be able to apply for these funds. Protection activities include targeted acquisition of land and conservation easements that make the greatest contribution to maintaining water quality and avoiding future degradation. The William Penn Foundation is supporting land protection through $10 million in grants to the Open Space Institute to set up a protection focused re-grant fund. Organizations from all eight subwatersheds will be able to apply for these funds. Scientific monitoring includes modeling to estimate each project’s impact and ongoing water quality sampling to verify results and inform mid-stream corrections for continuous improvement. The William Penn Foundation is supporting rigorous scientific modeling and monitoring through a $3 million grant to the Academy of Natural Science of Drexel University. By providing a robust professional monitoring regime, the Foundation hopes to make it easier for other funders to invest in the watershed and track the results of their investments. The following pages summarize place-based opportunities and early investment for each of the eight priority geographies, or sub-watershed clusters, in this program. These places of ecological significance range from the pristine headwaters and working forests of the upper watershed, through farmlands and suburbs to industrial and urban centers, all the way downstream to the living shorelines of the Delaware Bay estuary. Page 2 of 19 1. POCONOS AND KITTATINNY CLUSTER As the Poconos region has been developed as a resort destination for surrounding metropolitan areas, the forested area has experienced corresponding significant deforestation and pollution problems. The accelerated rate of development of forested land requires alignment of land-use planning and protection to help stakeholders address the difficulties in an organized and effective manner. With the Kittatinny Ridge running along its southeastern border, this area is a largely forested region with approximately 50,000 acres of conserved land spread across the 866,000 acre landscape. This cluster includes the eastern part of the Poconos Mountains in New York to The Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, with the western side draining into the Upper Lehigh River in Pennsylvania. Pike and Monroe counties in Pennsylvania have some of the fastest-growing populations within the Delaware Basin and many of its highest-quality watersheds. About 90 percent of streams in Monroe County currently meet the state’s highquality standard, and all streams in Pike County are rated by the state as either high-quality or exceptionalvalue (and many support valued trout reproduction). Stressors Residential and commercial development. With the Poconos now a bedroom community for New York City and northern New Jersey, development threatens forests, wetlands, riparian areas and floodplains. Landowner turnover, including further breakup of land parcels, and forest fragmentation remain significant concerns. Many municipal officials lack training in land-use law, design and engineering, and may act on development applications without considering individual projects’ consequences for water quality or their cumulative effects on water quality. Expansion of energy infrastructure. Inappropriate siting, construction and management of facilities and rightsof-way, especially for electricity and gas lines, can cause both immediate and long-term damage to water quality. Strategies and costs Analysis of costs to address the stressors, protect critical landscapes, build constituencies and monitor impacts identifies just under $49 million in direct costs over the next three years, with land protection constituting $36 million and support for land use, energy planning, outreach, and monitoring totaling just under $13 million dollars. The work involves: Land protection Outreach to landowners Land-use planning and regulatory reform Public outreach on open space stewardship Mitigating energy development impacts Water quality monitoring Benefits Seventeen conservation projects targeting water quality could result in protection of an estimated 100,000 acres and permanent conservation of cold water trout streams. The work could also result in model ordinances and increased funding for the region. With robust monitoring and complementary research, improvements in land use and land protection should provide insight into the relationship between Page 3 of 19 conservation and water quality and provide the rationale for investment by water utilities in source water protection upstream. Modeling that shows the contribution of ecosystem services and the impact of overdeveloping could also help unite citizens and municipalities around conservation needs. Initial Investment The William Penn Foundation has already awarded $1,738,700 to support the following eight organizations working in the Poconos and Kittatinny sub-watershed cluster. These organizations will work collaboratively to secure high quality water resources on the Pocono Plateau of the Delaware River Watershed through protection of targeted, forested headwater lands; these organizations will apply for additional protection funding through the William Penn Foundation’s $10 million re-grant program administered by the Open Space Institute: Delaware Highlands Conservancy Natural Lands Trust Nature Conservancy (Pennsylvania Field Office) Brodhead Watershed Association Pinchot Institute for Conservation Pocono Heritage Land Trust Trust for Public Land (New Jersey Field Office) East Stroudsburg University These funds will support staffing, consultants and other operational project costs to: Protect prioritized, targeted forested headwaters; enhance landowner understanding of the benefits of permanently protecting their property; support county and municipal land purchases and sustainable stewardship programs in support of drinking water source protection. Raise additional conservation funding. Develop and implement a robust, sustainable monitoring program to substantiate the maintenance of water quality and quantity. Page 4 of 19 2. NEW JERSEY HIGHLANDS CLUSTER The drinking water source for half of the state’s population, the New Jersey Highlands need permanent protection from development and forest fragmentation; the lower watersheds—forested ridges, agricultural valleys, and towns—require a combination of restoration and protection. The area includes 1,343 square miles of the nationally significant Appalachian Highlands landscape, bordering the Poconos on the north, with the Kittatinny Ridge as the boundary. It contains large tracts of forest land, sensitive wetlands, pristine watersheds, habitat for rare and endangered species, and many high-quality headwaters and trout streams. The Musconetcong River, a major tributary to the Delaware, is important for maintaining water quantity. Stressors Forest fragmentation and loss. Development is converting land at a rate of approximately 3,000 acres every year. Stormwater. Developed areas around Lake Hopatcong, Interstate 80, Hackettstown, Bloomsbury, Washington and Belvedere have stormwater and wastewater problems because of failing septic systems and combined sewer overflows. The lower Musconetcong River has an established Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL – a calculation of the maximum amount of a pollutant that a water body can receive and still meet water quality standards) regulatory limit for disease-causing bacteria. Agricultural runoff. Poor grazing and tillage practices are responsible for nutrient pollution, loss of topsoil, and siltation of streams in the lower watersheds, which have TMDLs set for agricultural nutrients, total suspended solids and bacteria. Dams. Dams impede the passage of fish, degrade stream habitat, disrupt natural stream flow, and store pollutants and sediments. Suburban non-point source pollution. Runoff from residential and corporate campus lawns conveys high amounts of fertilizer into waterways. Leaky septic systems also contribute nutrients and disease-causing fecal bacteria. Strategies and costs Costs to address non-point source pollution, protect critical landscapes, restore degraded areas and remove dams that are impeding water quality improvement total just over $32 million over the next three years – land protection for $25.5 million, over $5.5 million for restoration and just under $1 million dollars for outreach activities. The work involves: Non-point source pollution reduction Land preservation and protection Creek and floodplain restoration Public open space stewardship Fecal coliform reduction Dam removal Deer and invasive species control Municipal easements Policy and education Watershed management planning Benefits Benefits from these investments will include measurable increases in water quality in critical cold water streams, improved drinking water for millions of New Jersey residents and protection of significant portions of Page 5 of 19 the headwaters. The cluster provides a laboratory for testing how well conservation and restoration efforts work in tandem with one another, and offers the ability to leverage a combination of regional and local public funding for watershed protection. There’s also an opportunity to use monitoring to detect the source of fecal coliforms from mixed agricultural and suburbanizing landscapes and thereby determine where improvements in agricultural runoff and septic system infrastructure can be made for the greatest impact. Initial Investment The William Penn Foundation has already awarded $1,803,918 to support the following eleven organizations working in the New Jersey Highlands cluster of sub-watersheds to protect forested headwaters in areas threatened by development, and to implement restoration projects in areas affected by agricultural run-off and stormwater; these organizations will apply for additional funding through the William Penn Foundation’s two re-grant programs, which include a $10 million protection program administered by the Open Space Institute and a $7 million restoration program administered by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation: Association of New Jersey Environmental Commissions Land Conservancy of New Jersey Musconetcong Watershed Association Nature Conservancy (New Jersey Field Office) Hunterdon Land Trust Trout Unlimited New Jersey Audubon Society New Jersey Conservation Foundation New Jersey Highlands Coalition North Jersey Resource Conservation and Development Council Wallkill River Watershed Management Group These funds will support staffing, consultants, and web and print communications to: Prevent or limit development of priority forested lands in specific project areas through direct acquisition and model easements, and more broadly throughout the Highlands through policy change. Restore water quality in specific project areas through design, management, and implementation of restoration projects carefully targeted and tailored to specific sites and stressors. Engage specific municipalities and state, county and federal agencies in efforts to implement priority projects to protect or restore water quality in four target sub-watersheds, and to adopt and implement changes in policy and practice to promote watershed protection. Establish monitoring programs for project areas. By 2017, the success of this initial investment should help maintain water quality through protection of 4,000 acres of forest; restoration of 300 acres of farmland and 120 acres of forest; installation of 12.4 miles of stream buffers; new stormwater or septic protections in 3 municipalities; increased use of municipal easements in 3 municipalities; and development and use of methodologies to precisely identify sources of phosphorous pollution and develop complementary models for floodplain restoration. Page 6 of 19 3. UPPER LEHIGH CLUSTER The Upper Lehigh supplies drinking water to hundreds of thousands of people, and its largely intact forested watersheds are critical to water quality downstream. This area in Pennsylvania encompasses large wetlands and the headwaters of the Lehigh River, the second-largest tributary of the Delaware, located within the western side of the Pocono Mountains. Despite development and sub-division of land parcels, the region has a solid base of conserved land—250 square miles—and overall water quality is good: nearly 98 percent of stream miles in the Upper Lehigh meet the criteria for their designated uses. The primary goal here is to protect water quality by permanently protecting the area’s substantial expanses of forests and wetlands. The complementary goal is to preserve biodiversity and wildlife habitat. Stressors Increasing development. Poorly planned development has begun to fragment forests and degrade streams and wetlands. Deforestation is a primary concern because of its consequences for stream quality. Some county and municipal planners are ill-equipped to protect natural resources from inappropriate development, and energy companies often select transmission and pipeline routes through public and private conservation lands to avoid population centers. Legacy stream alterations. The Upper Lehigh has more than 100 small dams, most of which are obsolete but continue to degrade the health of flowing-water ecosystems. Small dam removal can be a relatively simple process, which is cost-effective for improving water quality and restoring the connectivity of aquatic habitats. Re-establishing riparian buffers would also improve water quality and both aquatic and terrestrial habitats. Strategies and costs Costs to address the stressors, protect critical landscapes, build constituencies and monitor impacts comes to just over $26 million in direct costs over the next three years, including among other costs land protection constituting $25.4 million, restoration totaling $415,000, and monitoring and outreach totaling $400,000. The work involves: Land preservation Outreach to municipal and county officials Stream corridor restoration Monitoring Benefits If all the properties identified as priorities in the implementation plan are secured, the permanently protected land in the Upper Lehigh would reach 350 square miles and add 110 miles of exceptional-value and highquality streams. The restoration would measurably improve stream quality in the impaired streams in the region. Because of the high level of existing protection, the Lehigh could become a case study in testing how to “secure” sub-watersheds to maintain water quality, as well as testing whether attention to water quality can help communities improve how they plan. Here, as in other clusters in Pennsylvania focused on land Page 7 of 19 protection, there is an opportunity to modify easements to allow for best management practices to be layered in. Initial Investment The William Penn Foundation has awarded $1,200,250 to support the following six organizations working in the Upper Lehigh cluster of sub-watersheds to mitigate the impact of forest loss and fragmentation through land preservation and targeted outreach to landowners, municipalities, and counties; these organizations will apply for additional protection funding through the William Penn Foundation’s $10 million re-grant program administered by the Open Space Institute: Natural Lands Trust Nature Conservancy (Pennsylvania Field Office) Pennsylvania Audubon Pocono Heritage Land Trust Wildlands Conservancy North Pocono CARE These funds will support staffing, consultants, and meeting and travel costs to: Protect high priority forested headwaters through outreach and technical assistance to landowners and municipalities. Attract significant land protection capital. Develop and implement a robust, sustainable monitoring program, including volunteer recruitment, to substantiate the maintenance of water quality and quantity and adaptively inform future conservation efforts. By 2017, this initial investment should enable permanent protection of 8,000 acres of high-priority forested headwaters, helping to secure existing high quality water resources of the Upper Lehigh sub-watersheds, as shown by integrated water quality monitoring and modeling. Page 8 of 19 4. MIDDLE SCHUYLKILL CLUSTER The Middle Schuylkill includes 352 polluted stream miles in Pennsylvania that are measurably degraded due to elevated temperatures, sediment, toxins, and pathogens; intensive row crop, pasture, dairy and livestock operations are the major contributors. The area is a largely rural watershed, with 76 percent of land cover in agricultural uses and forest; it includes Pottstown, PA and smaller cities. The cluster has 1,083 miles of streams, including 182 miles of high-quality and exceptional-value reaches that flow through the most forested lands and support a diversity of aquatic and terrestrial plant and animal life. Five clean-water streams are important to drinking water suppliers that serve 350,000 residents and also account for 43 percent of the water found in the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia. Stressors Agricultural land use. Many farms lack stream fencing, secure manure storage, and grazing and nutrient management plans. Agriculture thus contributes to stream bank erosion, nutrient loading, excessive sedimentation and the flushing of pesticides and veterinary pharmaceuticals into waterways. Stream ecosystems have been degraded. Urbanization and suburbanization. Land conversion and the loss of forested buffers have increased stormwater pollution in the region. Strategies and costs Costs to address agricultural stressors, build constituencies and conserve important lands come to nearly $28 million over the next three years, including among other costs agricultural best management practices constituting nearly $19 million, protection totaling $7.5 million, and monitoring, education and outreach activities over $1.5 million. The work includes: Agricultural BMPs Education and outreach Conservation Monitoring Benefits Reducing the stressors should improve conditions in the degraded waterways and expand and protect aquatic habitat and recreational uses by the regional community. The protection of forested reaches and their resources will result in cleaner water and healthier waterways and prevent backlash against the agrarian economy and regional culture from drinking water communities downstream. The lessons learned in the Middle Schuylkill on how to reach more farmers with innovative communications, outreach, and marketing strategies around production and yield-focused best management practices would provide substantial crosscutting benefits across the agricultural lands that encompass a full quarter of the Delaware Basin’s landcover and account for almost a third of the Basin’s total nutrient pollution. Page 9 of 19 Initial Investment The William Penn Foundation has awarded $898,311 to the following three organizations working in the Middle Schuylkill cluster of sub-watersheds towards restoration of working agricultural lands to reduce polluted runoff; these organizations will apply for additional restoration funding through the William Penn Foundation’s $7 million re-grant program administered by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation: Berks County Conservancy Partnership for the Delaware Estuary Stroud Water Research Center These funds will support staffing, consultants, travel, and meeting expenses to: Build awareness and capacity for restoring working agricultural lands. Target agricultural lands for restoration, building trust within the local agricultural community and developing partnerships with farmers to implement improved techniques to reduce polluted runoff. Raise additional restoration funding. Develop and implement a robust monitoring program, including volunteer recruitment, which substantiates water quality and quantity improvements achieved through cooperative conservation implementation efforts. As a result of this initial investment, by 2017 at least 500 acres on 34 strategically targeted farms should be restored to reduce polluted runoff cleaner, improving water quality in Middle Schuylkill sub-watersheds, as shown by integrated water quality monitoring and modeling. Page 10 of 19 5. SCHUYLKILL HIGHLANDS CLUSTER Low-density suburban development in the Schuylkill Highlands is spreading northward into the cluster’s headwaters, threatening a delicate and essential area for ensuring healthy water. The cluster lies close to the Philadelphia metropolitan area yet has heavily forested watersheds with exceptional-value and high-quality streams in addition to pastoral and suburban landscapes. It also contains a major state park and one of only seven national historic sites in all of Pennsylvania. Approximately 30% of the Schuylkill Highlands is already protected, but the landscape is located in one of Pennsylvania’s fastest growing counties, Chester, and water quality is subject to considerable threat from development. Preservation of the existing water quality depends on permanently protecting the stream systems through acquisition or easements. Raising awareness about the conservation work and its importance is also needed so that local citizens and their leaders will undertake their own actions to protect and improve water quality. Stressors Land-use change. The conversion of natural and agricultural lands to developed uses, with large expanses of impervious area, permanently modifies the flow of water by increasing runoff and reducing infiltration. Loss of riparian buffers. Lack of streamside forests, essential for maintaining in-stream ecosystems, is evident in older developed areas and agricultural areas as well as in more recently converted land. Roads and sewage. Roads are a source of both stream pollution and stormwater problems. Failing septic fields leak untreated wastewater into streams, and sewer pipes transport water out of watersheds, reducing streams’ base flow. Strategies and costs Costs to protect critical landscapes, build constituencies and monitor impacts are approximately $14 million over the next three years, with land protection constituting $11 million and monitoring, municipal assistance and other outreach and coordination totaling $3 million. The work includes: Land protection Municipal assistance Community engagement Regional coordination Hydrological modeling Citizen science Benefits The protection work envisioned for this cluster will help reduce future fragmentation. The outreach efforts are designed to increase public knowledge about non-point source pollution from farms, lawns and roads to achieve more ready acceptance by citizens of the importance of public policy that protects water quality and performing on-the-ground conservation work. In addition to accelerating the rate of protection, this cluster offers an opportunity to test the concept of protecting the headwaters of small streams – which some experts Page 11 of 19 say is vital to ensuring water quality – and combining permanent conservation easements with agricultural best management practices. Initial Investment The William Penn Foundation has already awarded $1,787,930 to support the following eight organizations working in the Schuylkill Highlands cluster of sub-watersheds towards protection of critical forested headwaters that provide drinking water to 4 million people; these organizations will apply for additional protection funding through the William Penn Foundation’s $10 million re-grant program administered by the Open Space Institute: French and Pickering Creeks Conservation Trust Green Valleys Watershed Association Natural Lands Trust Berks County Conservancy Partnership for the Delaware Estuary Pennsylvania Audubon Stroud Water Research Center Chester County Water Resources Authority These funds will support staffing, consultants and all other operational project costs to: Develop and calibrate a model predicting erosion and sediment runoff in target sub-watersheds. Using model results: prioritize forested headwaters for protection, identify landscapes in need of restoration to minimize polluted runoff, conduct targeted landowner outreach to start a pool of landowners willing to protect land. Conduct targeted outreach and technical assistance promoting adoption and implementation of improved county and municipal policies and funding programs that protect waterways and forests. Secure additional public and private funding for prioritized conservation projects. Develop and implement a robust, sustainable monitoring program, including volunteer recruitment, to substantiate the water quality/quantity maintenance achieved through groups’ conservation efforts. By 2017, this initial investment should result in permanent protection for at least 2,000 acres of forest and completion of at least 12 projects to restore protected lands, improving and securing local water quality for future generations. Page 12 of 19 6. BRANDYWINE AND CHRISTINA RIVERS CLUSTER This cluster, encompassing 565 square miles in both Delaware and Pennsylvania, provides 100 million gallons of water to more than 500,000 people each day. Because of its proximity to Philadelphia and Wilmington, the region has experienced intense development pressures over the past 30 years, and residential and commercial development continue to compete for land and resources, which threaten to divide large land parcels and adversely affect forests and water quality. The watershed contributes $1.5 billion in economic activity from water quality, water supply, fish and wildlife, recreation, agriculture, forests and public parks benefits. It also provides valuable ecosystem services and directly or indirectly supports more than 100,000 jobs worth $4 billion in annual wages. Stressors Agricultural land use. Lack of riparian buffers and BMPs, including stream bank fencing, manure management, and nutrient management plans, have raised water temperatures and caused stream bank erosion, sedimentation and nutrient loading. Land conversion. Development of farmland has increased impervious area, disturbed slopes, removed native vegetation, and intensified stormwater runoff. Strategies and costs Costs to protect critical landscapes, build constituencies and monitor impacts comes to just under $15 million over the next three years, $6 million for permanent land protection, over $5 million for restoration of streams and close to $4 million for monitoring, outreach and innovation. The work involves: Permanent protection Wetlands protection Restoration of rural streams Restoration of urban streams Outreach to municipalities Innovative financing Benefits Permanent protection of farmland and implementation of BMPs for rural and urban streams will measurably improve water quality, ensure safe recreational use, protect Wilmington’s drinking water, and move impaired streams to “attaining” status. A sustainable watershed-based financing strategy will sustain conservation funding despite declining federal, state, and local dollars – as well as the lack of coordination that results from the multi-jurisdictional nature of the watershed. The cluster is a laboratory for testing the efficacy of significant riparian buffers being installed in two sub-watersheds, and the documentation of these and other stormwater reduction efforts could provide a roadmap for restoration throughout the cluster. Page 13 of 19 Initial Investment The William Penn Foundation has already awarded $1,150,511 to support the following six organizations working in the Brandywine and Christina cluster of sub-watersheds towards protection and restoration of working agricultural lands and exploration of innovative conservation funding approaches; these organizations will apply for additional funding through the William Penn Foundation’s two re-grant programs, which include a $10 million protection program administered by the Open Space Institute and a $7 million restoration program administered by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation: Brandywine Conservancy & Museum of Art Brandywine Valley Association Nature Conservancy (Delaware Office) Stroud Water Research Center University of Delaware Natural Lands Trust These funds will support staffing, consultants, materials, and meeting costs for: Permanent protection of headwaters project area through conservation easement acquisition. Design and implementation of agricultural restoration projects on three streams. Design and implementation of urban restoration projects on three streams. Design and implementation of model regulatory tools, including municipal stormwater controls and stream buffers. Analysis of innovative, long-term market-based funding tools to support protection and restoration projects that have a direct impact on water quality, to enable water authorities and other regulated entities to avoid expensive water treatment infrastructure costs to achieve water quality improvements. Design and implementation of a robust water quality monitoring program, including volunteer recruitment, for targeted project areas. By 2017, this initial investment should see water quality improved or protected via preservation of at least 1,033 acres of targeted agricultural lands and adoption of best management practices on 32 targeted farms in Wilmington’s source water priority area, installation of 14.5 miles of targeted stream buffers, and new watershed protections in 5 municipalities. Page 14 of 19 7. UPSTREAM SUBURBAN PHILADELPHIA CLUSTER With the most concentrated development of the eight areas, the Upstream Suburban Philadelphia cluster of Pennsylvania sub-watersheds faces some of the most significant water challenges. As a predominantly urbanized landscape, high proportions of impervious surface cover drive groundwater losses of up to 59 billion gallons a year and cause heavy metals, petrochemicals, garbage litter and other harmful substances to be collected by stormwater and delivered into waterways. In headwaters areas, public groundwater withdrawals for drinking water deplete streams which are left to be replenished by wastewater treatment plant discharge, resulting in stream flows that are up to 65% treated sewage. The Wissahickon Creek is one such example of a sewage-dominated stream, and it flows into the Schuylkill River just upstream of one of Philadelphia’s drinking water intakes. The confluences of both Pennypack and Poquessing creeks with the Delaware River are also near a city drinking water treatment plant. Though several important parks can be found in these watersheds, this area does not have a large amount of land available for protection, so the opportunities to achieve water quality improvements in upstream suburban Philadelphia lie in restoration work. Addressing stormwater management issues would benefit water quality for human consumption as well as wildlife habitat. Stressors Urbanization. The conversion of open land to impervious cover has increased stormwater flows and altered the hydrologic regime and stream geomorphology, causing high-volume and high-velocity stream flows, flooding, sedimentation and pollutant and nutrient loading. Unsustainable patterns of development across greater Philadelphia generate 69 to 162 million gallons a day of polluted stormwater runoff that would otherwise infiltrate and recharge groundwater systems where natural processes restore water quality. Inappropriate and aging infrastructure. Over the past century, stream banks were hardened and streams converted into underground storm sewers, sacrificing their vibrant aquatic ecosystems. Today this infrastructure is aging, inadequate and improperly connected, with further detrimental effects. Strategies and costs Costs to address stormwater, wastewater and restoration of water ways totals $40 million in direct costs over the next three years with monitoring totaling $2.5 million and outreach, modeling and technical assistance totaling $3.5 million. Additional costs related to restoration of buffers, uplands, and streams total just over $34 million. The work includes: Restoration of buffers and uplands Restoration of stream channels Stormwater management Wastewater treatment and sewer upgrade Benefits Restoration of impaired areas are essential to improving aquatic and terrestrial habitats and water quality. Stream channel restoration, in conjunction with stormwater management projects and sewer infrastructure repairs along stream banks, will help restore natural hydrologic conditions. The work in this cluster could also Page 15 of 19 be instrumental in understanding cost-effective ways to implement green infrastructure and thereby advance both the science and practice of stormwater reduction. Initial Investment The William Penn Foundation has awarded $3,420,000 to support the following eleven organizations working in the Upstream Suburban Philadelphia cluster of sub-watersheds towards aligned, science-based efforts to demonstrate stream restoration and green infrastructure projects and use monitoring data to inform municipal stormwater permits and public investments; these organizations will apply for additional restoration funding through the William Penn Foundation’s $7 million re-grant program administered by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation: Lower Merion Conservancy Pennsylvania Environmental Council, Inc. Pennypack Ecological Restoration Trust Temple University Villanova University Wissahickon Valley Watershed Association Friends of Poquessing Watershed Tookany/Tacony-Frankford Watershed Partnership Eastern Delaware County Stormwater Collaborative Darby Creek Valley Association Saint Joseph’s University These funds will support staffing, monitoring equipment, and operational project costs to: Implement and monitor on-the-ground projects that include green infrastructure, tree plantings, wetlands construction, and stream bank engineering. Provide technical assistance to municipalities with stormwater permit requirements. Provide custom smartphone technology and programs to support efforts by citizen volunteers to advocate for improved water quality and support or implement restoration projects. Administer workshops and seminars on financing and long-term support for green stormwater infrastructure projects to educate municipalities and improve policies. By 2017, this initial investment will complete 21 projects, restoring 50 acres and 7,500 feet of stream corridor to manage 200,000 gallons of stormwater per day. Results from water quality monitoring and modeling should show benefits to watershed conditions and demonstrate hydrologic connections between upstream and downstream communities, cultivating $20 million in new watershed protection investments that cross traditional jurisdictional boundaries. Page 16 of 19 8. KIRKWOOD-COHANSEY AQUIFER CLUSTER The Kirkwood-Cohansey aquifer extends nearly two million acres and underlies New Jersey’s Bayshore and Pine Barrens regions. The aquifer provides more than 35 billion gallons of water annually for drinking, irrigation, and industrial uses—water that would otherwise support aquifer-dependent ecosystems like wetlands and headwater streams. Water withdrawn from the aquifer is subsequently lost from the natural system when it exits our homes and businesses through the sewers or leaves our irrigated fields through evaporation and transpiration, unsustainably depleting the aquifer and degrading habitat. Two thirds of this region lie within regional planning areas that offer limited protections from a growing population that is challenging the region’s water resources. Across the entire landscape, approximately 743,000 acres (38%) of aquifer recharge area is potentially developable, representing a potential loss to the aquifer of billions of gallons . Stressors Development of forested land. Expanding suburban development and cropland are leading to contamination of ground and surface water. Increased impervious area and the loss of natural storage and other forest ecosystem services contribute to high volumes of runoff contaminated by nutrients from suburban lawns, faulty septic systems and agriculture. Land alteration opens areas to nonnative, invasive species and creates new habitat for deer; displacing or destroying plant life important to the health of the watershed. Aquifer depletion. Pumping water for human uses has lowered the water table, dried wetlands, lessened stream flow, and reduced freshwater discharge to coastal estuaries. Because of the increase in impervious area, aquifer recharge is insufficient, jeopardizing the sustainability of the water supply and putting the region at risk from saltwater intrusion and land subsidence. Poor forest and wetland stewardship. Motorized recreation, suppression of natural wildfire, inadequate control of invasive plants and deer populations, and other practices have degraded habitats and diminished native biodiversity even in theoretically preserved land. Strategies and costs Costs to protect critical landscapes, restore farmland and address policy and outreach total nearly $24 million over the next three years, with agricultural and ecological restoration totaling $12.5 million, land protection totaling $8.5 million, and policy and outreach initiatives totaling nearly $3 million. This work includes: Protection of important natural lands Policy initiatives for aquifer management Ecological restoration of recharge areas Agricultural restoration reducing water use and harmful runoff Community engagement to promote water conservation Page 17 of 19 Benefits Preventing further loss of forests, restoring water quantity and restoring ecological communities will help ensure watershed health, including both abiotic and biotic characteristics of the aquifer and associated habitats. Groundwater is an important but often overlooked component of every natural systems across the Delaware watershed. The opportunity in this cluster is not just to develop effective new approaches to sustainably managing the aquifer, it’s also developing effective messages that help communities, businesses and others understand and embrace the need to maintain healthy groundwater supplies. Initial Investment The William Penn Foundation has awarded $2,439,000 to the following ten organizations working in the Kirkwood-Cohansey Aquifer cluster of sub-watersheds towards protection and restoration of essential aquifer recharge areas. Organizations will apply for additional funding through the William Penn Foundation’s two regrant programs, which include a $10 million protection program administered by the Open Space Institute and a $7 million restoration program administered by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation: American Littoral Society Association of New Jersey Environmental Commissions Delaware & Raritan Greenway Land Trust Natural Lands Trust Nature Conservancy (New Jersey Field Office) New Jersey Audubon Society New Jersey Conservation Foundation Partnership for the Delaware Estuary Pinelands Preservation Alliance Trust for Public Land (New Jersey Field Office) These funds will support staffing, consultants, and operational project costs to: Prevent or limit development of forested lands in specific focus areas and strategic recharge areas through direct acquisition, model easements, and policy advocacy. Test new scientific analytic tools for understanding and overcoming stressors on the aquifer system through withdrawal analysis, groundwater modeling, and surface water and well testing. Reduce or limit the withdrawal of water from the aquifer for depletive uses through policy reform and increased household awareness. Promote stewardship and restoration of forests and wetlands on farms and on public land by preserving farmland, promoting best management practices, and limiting destructive off-road vehicle use. Through this initial investment, protection of 6,500 acres of recharge area, restoration of 9,000 feet and 300 acres of stream corridor, and an awareness campaign to reduce groundwater consumption by 3% should produce measureable trends toward higher quality and groundwater availability by 2017. Page 18 of 19 APPENDIX Sub-Watershed Cluster Teams Kirkwood-Cohansey Aquifer 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. American Littoral Society New Jersey Audubon Society New Jersey Conservation Foundation The Nature Conservancy - New Jersey Pinelands Preservation Alliance Natural Lands Trust Trust for Public Land - New Jersey Delaware & Raritan Greenway Land Trust Association of NJ Environmental Commissions Partnership for the Delaware Estuary Brandywine and Christina 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Brandywine Conservancy Brandywine Valley Association University of Delaware Natural Lands Trust The Nature Conservancy - Delaware Stroud Water Research Center Upstream Suburban Philadelphia 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. Pennsylvania Environmental Council Temple University Villanova University Tookany/Tacony-Frankford Watershed Partnership Lower Merion Conservancy Wissahickon Valley Watershed Association Pennypack Restoration Trust Friends of Poquessing Watershed Eastern Delaware County Stormwater Collaborative Darby Creek Valley Association Saint Joseph's University Upper Lehigh 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Wildlands Conservancy Natural Lands Trust National Audubon Society - Pennsylvania The Nature Conservancy - Pennsylvania North Pocono CARE Poconos Heritage Land Trust Schuylkill Highlands 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Natural Lands Trust Partnership for the Delaware Estuary Berks County Conservancy French and Pickering Creeks Conservation Trust National Audubon Society - Pennsylvania Green Valleys Watershed Association Chester County Water Resources Authority Stroud Water Research Center Middle Schuylkill 1. Berks County Conservancy 2. Partnership for the Delaware Estuary 3. Stroud Water Research Center New Jersey Highlands 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. The Nature Conservancy - New Jersey New Jersey Conservation Foundation Land Conservancy of New Jersey Hunterdon Land Trust Musconetcong Watershed Association New Jersey Highlands Coalition Association of NJ Environmental Commissions North Jersey Resource Conservation & Development Council 9. Trout Unlimited 10. New Jersey Audubon Society 11. Walkill River Watershed Management Group Poconos and Kittatinny 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. The Nature Conservancy - Pennsylvania Natural Lands Trust Pinchot Institute for Conservation Trust for Public Land - New Jersey Poconos Heritage Land Trust Delaware Highlands Conservancy Brodhead Watershed Association East Stroudsburg University Page 19 of 19
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