Agency gives Valley organizations $2 million to reduce pollution in Chesapeake Bay watershed | News

The Daily Item

HARRISBURG — More than $24 million in funding to reduce pollution and restore local streams, rivers, and lakes in the Chesapeake Bay watershed has been awarded by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, including nearly $2 million for local counties.

DEP awarded grants through the 2025 Countywide Action Plan Implementation Grants to county teams.

“These grants have been used to implement everything from streambank tree plantings to livestock crossing installations. Their work benefits not only their communities, but our commonwealth and beyond,” DEP Acting Secretary Jessica Shirley said. “It’s projects that counties are putting on the ground that are changing the conversation from ‘talking about fixing the bay’ to ‘fixing the bay,’ and I’m excited to see the ingenuity and progress made by this year’s grant recipients.”’

The 2025 CAP Implementation Grant round brought in applications for 205 projects scheduled to be completed in the next 12 to 18 months.

Locally, $924,704 has been allocated to the Montour County Conservation District, $863,63 to the Snyder County Conservation District and $211,000 to the Northumberland County Conservation District.

Nutrient pollution and eroded sediment can enter streams, rivers and lakes from stormwater runoff and other activities on land, such as using too much fertilizer, plowing and tilling farm fields, stripping away trees and vegetation, and expanding concrete and paved surfaces.

Pennsylvania has made historic progress in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Earlier this year, the Shapiro administration announced that for the first time in the history, the Chesapeake Bay showed steady overall improvement, earning a C+ grade from the University of Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay and Watershed Report Card Opens In A New Window — the highest grade ever awarded to the overall health of the Bay since the report was created. The Upper Bay, which is fed by the Susquehanna River from Pennsylvania scored one of the highest grades among any area of the bay — and posted a significant improvement from last year — showing how efforts in agency collaborations, strong partnerships, and sustained investments led to progress throughout the Susquehanna River watershed and beyond.

Nutrient pollution and eroded sediment can enter streams, rivers and lakes from stormwater runoff and other activities on land, such as using too much fertilizer, plowing and tilling farm fields, stripping away trees and vegetation, and expanding concrete and paved surfaces.

The 2025 CAP Implementation Grants include $9.6 million from the state Environmental Stewardship Fund and $14.4 million in EPA funding, including $7.1 million in Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) funds, to support counties’ implementation of their local priority initiatives in their CAPs.

In addition to the funding awarded for implementing projects, DEP also awarded nearly $1.8 million to county teams to support local Clean Water Coordinators who help to strategically implement the CAPs.