Recent EPA approval of a new restoration plan for the Pequea Creek watershed has cleared the way for federal funding to put practices on the ground to reduce pollution from agriculture and urban development in Lancaster and Chester counties.

The EPA-approved restoration plan, developed by Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) watershed coordinator Brian Gish in Pennsylvania, is now eligible for federal funding through Section 319 of the Clean Water Act. Section 319 funding addresses non-point source pollution from agriculture, stormwater, and acid mine drainage. To qualify for the federal dollars, the water body must be impaired and have an approved plan to make it unimpaired. Portions of the Pequea Creek Watershed began appearing on the state's list of impaired waters in 1996, 1998, and 2000, due to excessive nutrient and sediment loading.

Within the 153-square-mile Pequea Creek watershed, Section 319 funding will be used to keep soils and nutrients on the land instead of in the water with practices such as cover crops, no-till agriculture, nutrient management, animal waste management, riparian buffers, streambank fencing, streambank stabilization, and reducing legacy sediment.

Gish explained that contributors to the plan included representatives of local government, leaders from the Amish community and other area residents. The plan aligns with Lancaster's Countywide Action Plan and Pennsylvania's Chesapeake Bay watershed implementation plan, noted Harry Campbell, CBF science policy and advocacy director in Pennsylvania. Funding for development of the plan was provided by the Richard King Mellon Foundation.

Sens. Bob Casey and Ben Cardin had earlier secured $2.18 million for the Pequea plan. It was the first time in a decade that senators were able to request funds for specific projects in annual appropriations bills.

Gish and Caitlin Glagola, CBF watershed coordinator in Pennsylvania, are now developing new watershed restoration plans for the Upper Conestoga River in Lancaster, Berks, and Chester counties, as well as Marsh Creek in Centre County.