2019 SWCS International Annual Conference July 28-31, 2019 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

1. Harnessing Pennsylvania’s Culture of
Stewardship for Clean Water
A Statewide Perspective
Matt Royer
Director, Agriculture and Environment Center, Penn State
University

2. Pennsylvania’s public natural resources
are the common property of all people . . .

3. Pennsylvania Constitution
Article I, Section 27
The people have a right to clean air, pure water, and to
the preservation of the natural, scenic, historic and
esthetic values of the environment. Pennsylvania’s
public natural resources are the common property of all
the people, including generations yet to come. As
trustee of these resources, the Commonwealth shall
conserve and maintain them for the benefit of all the
people.

4. Pennsylvania, the Keystone State
of Larger Landscapes:
Eight River Basins:
Allegheny & Monongahela
& Ohio River Basins (Mississippi)
Lake Erie & Genesee River
Basins (Great Lakes)
Susquehanna & Potomac
Basins (Chesapeake Bay)
Delaware River Basin
Seven States:
NY, NJ, DE, MD, VA, WV, OH

5. Pennsylvania: Our Land and Water
Conservation Challenges
Causes of
Stream and
River
Impairment
s
0
2000
4000
6000
8000
10000
Siltation Metals pH Nutrients Water/Flow
Variability
Organic
Enrichment/Low
DO
Source: PA Integrated Water Quality Monitoring and Assessment Report (2016).

6. Pennsylvania: Sources of Stream and
River Impairments
0
1,000
2,000
3,000
4,000
5,000
6,000
7,000
8,000
9,000
10,000
Agriculture Abandoned
Mine
Drainage
Urban
Stormwater
Runoff
Point Sources
Source: PA Integrated Water Quality Monitoring and Assessment Report (2016).

7. Pennsylvania: Our Water Challenges
are Land Use Challenges

8. Pennsylvania: An Urban/Rural Mosaic
This is the State
College Urbanized
Area (for purposes
of MS4
Stormwater
Permitting):
Source: Spring Creek MS4 Partners Website,
http://www.ms4partners.org

9. Pennsylvania: An Urban/Rural Mosaic
This is the
Urbanized Area:
Source: Google Maps Street View

10. Pennsylvania: An Urban/Rural Mosaic
And so is this:
Source: Google Maps Street View

11. Pennsylvania: An Urban/Rural Mosaic
But so is this:
Source: Google Maps Street View

12. Pennsylvania: An Urban/Rural Mosaic
And so is this:
Source: Google Maps Street View

13. Pennsylvania: An Urban/Rural Mosaic
And this:
Source: Google Maps Street View

14. Pennsylvania: Success Stories Across
the Commonwealth
Bioswale at Historic Pump House in
Pittsburgh
Urban green infrastructure
initiatives from Pittsburgh
to Philly and many places
in between (like
Lancaster):
Green Infrastructure in
City of Lancaster
Green Infrastructure in Philadelphia

15. Pennsylvania: Success Stories Across
the Commonwealth
Farmers from Bradford
County to Lancaster
County (and Centre County
in between) are
implementing
conservation practices:
Photos compliments of Chesapeake Bay Foundation, Penn State Agriculture and Environment Center, and Clearwater Conservancy

16. Pennsylvania: A Culture of
Stewardship
PA in Balance
(2016, 2019)

17. Pennsylvania: A Culture of
Stewardship
PA in Balance
Priority
Initiatives:
Increase Technical
Capacity and Training
Incentives to Raise the Bar
Tell the Narrative:
Soil and Stream Health
Delivery Mechanisms in Priority Watersheds

18. Pennsylvania: A Culture of
Stewardship
“If all farmers managed their production
land for soil health, managed their manure
as a resource, and managed stream
corridors for ecosystem health (seeing
buffers as their “pet,” in the words of one
producer), we would well be on our way to
achieving Pennsylvania agriculture in
balance.”
--PA in Balance Report p. 29