Penn State Extension Master Watershed Stewards of Chester and Delaware Counties planted a live stake nursery riparian buffer this fall along Rock Run above the Coatesville Reservoir in West Caln Township. Riparian buffers are created to protect waterways from stormwater runoff, pollutants, and more.

The nursery combines two stream repair techniques. One of these techniques involves planting trees with surrounding tubes or wire cages next to a stream. The nursery's other streambank repair technique uses live stakes, branch cuttings of certain native trees and shrubs that will grow into new trees and shrubs when in contact with moist soil. They can be placed in streambanks and are an effective, low-cost way to establish a root network to help prevent soil loss and to rebuild eroded banks. Common live stake shrubs include red osier dogwood, buttonbush, and other shrubs that are also often planted in backyard habitats.

The nursery consists of 90 native shrubs that, when mature, will provide live stakes (cuttings) to local conservation organizations and streamside landowners through educational workshops offered by Master Watershed Steward volunteers. These shrubs will provide future material to protect streams and habitat across Chester and Delaware counties. An additional benefit to this riparian buffer is the source water protection it will provide due to its location upstream of Rock Run Reservoir, which provides raw water supply to the greater Coatesville area.

The Watershed Coalition of the Lehigh Valley, in partnership with the Penn State Extension Master Watershed Steward program, received funding from Pennsylvania American Water to install five live stake nurseries across Pennsylvania, including the one in West Caln. The funds were provided through the company's annual Environmental Grant program. The West Caln nursery was a collaboration between Pennsylvania American Water, Master Watershed Stewards of Chester and Delaware Counties, and Chester County Water Resources Authority with support from the Chester County commissioners, the Chester County Conservation District, West Caln Township, and the Coatesville Country Club.

Penn State Extension Master Watershed Stewards are locally educated and managed volunteers who address conservation priorities in collaboration with a broad partnership of organizations and local governments. The program recruits interested citizens from the community; provides them with formal classroom and hands-on, in-the-field learning; and connects them with ongoing volunteer opportunities.

For more information, contact Meagan Hopkins-Doerr, coordinator for the Master Watershed Steward program in Chester and Delaware counties, at mxh1135@psu.edu or 610-696-3500.

Pennsylvania American Water's annual Environmental Grant Program funds innovative, community-based environmental projects aimed at improving, restoring, or protecting the watersheds, surface water, and groundwater supplies in communities served by Pennsylvania American Water. Applications for 2022 funding will open in the spring. For more information, visit http://www.amwater.com/paaw/news-community/environmental-grant-program.