West Chester, Pa (September 20, 2022) – Three projects to restore, improve, and maintain streams and watersheds in Chester County will receive nearly $470,000 in state funding, state Senator Carolyn Comitta announced today.

The funds, approved today by the Commonwealth Financing Authority, are as follows:

• $205,000 for Tredyffrin Township for Phase 2 of the Gregory Lane/ Jenkins Arboretum Stormwater Improvement Partnership Project.
• $150,000 for the Borough of South Coatesville for the Unnamed Tributary of the West Branch Brandywine Creek Stream Restoration.
• $114,000 for the Brandywine Red Clay Alliance for the Bucktoe Creek Stream Restoration.

“Pennsylvania is home to more than 86,000 miles of rivers, streams, and creeks – second in the nation only to Alaska,” said Comitta, who serves as minority chair of the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee. “As we continue to face increased precipitation and extreme weather events, these funds can help support communities in effectively managing stormwater runoff to better protect our streams and water resources,”

The projects were funded by Act 13 of 2012 (the Marcellus Legacy Fund), which allocates funding through the Watershed Restoration and Protection Program to restore and maintain stream reaches impaired by the uncontrolled discharge of nonpoint source polluted runoff, and ultimately to remove these streams from the Department of Environmental Protection’s (DEP) Impaired Waters list.

According to DEP’s Integrated Water Quality Report, one-third of all Pennsylvania waterways are now considered impaired enough to negatively impact wildlife, recreation, or drinking water. In Chester County, nearly 72 percent (1,020) of the 1,416 miles of streams, creeks, and waterways assessed by DEP were listed as impaired. Stormwater runoff and agricultural runoff remain leading sources of water quality impairment, according to the report.

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