South central Pa. water protection projects get a boost from the state

Rachel McDevitt

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I report on energy and the environment for StateImpact Pennsylvania at WITF.

My work focuses on responses and solutions to climate change in the state legislature and communities around the state. I trace my interest in these issues back to my time as a Girl Scout and this episode of Rocko’s Modern Life.

I look forward to winter just for the chance to ski a few times each season. I try to keep myself from doom-scrolling on my phone by keeping my hands busy knitting and learning to play the piano.

I grew up in Cambria County, Pa. and graduated from Temple University. I started at WITF just after Christmas in 2014.

Ian Sterling for WITF

Snow covers the banks of the Conestoga River in Lancaster County on Nov. 24, 2019.

January 31, 2022 | 5:20 PM

Thirteen water protection projects in south central Pennsylvania are getting $4.7 million in help from the state.

The money comes from Pennsylvania’s Growing Greener program, which helps communities restore waterways, clean up abandoned mines, and plug orphaned oil and gas wells.

The largest award in the region is going to the Little Conestoga Creek Foundation in Lancaster County, according to a news release from the Department of Environmental Protection. It plans to use $2.2 million for floodplain restoration along its namesake creek.

According to Lancaster Clean Water Partners, the foundation’s goal is to return the creek to how it was hundreds of years ago by restoring wetlands, which can support wildlife and reduce the risk of flash flooding. The project will also help lower runoff to the Chesapeake Bay.

Other projects benefiting from Growing Greener are Dauphin County’s Capital Area Greenbelt streambank restoration, and York County’s West Branch Codorus Creek Stream Restoration.

More than $18 million from the program is being awarded this year statewide.

The full list of projects in the south central region is below.

Berks

Berks County Conservation District: Little Cacoosing Creek Restoration, $374,128
Fleetwood Borough: Willow Creek Streambank Restoration Phase 1, $145,438

Blair

Altoona Water Authority: Kittanning Run Restoration Plan Assessment, $50,537

Dauphin

Capital Area Greenbelt Association: Spring Creek Ivey Apartments Site Streambank Restoration Project, $230,150
Borough of Penbrook: Penbrook Borough Stormwater Management Basin, $280,000

Franklin

Franklin County Conservation District: West Branch Conococheague Tributary Floodplain Restoration—Design and Permitting, $117,500

Huntingdon

The Trust for Tomorrow: Tuscarora Creek Bank Stabilization Project, $88,510

Lancaster

Little Conestoga Creek Foundation: Little Conestoga Blue-Green Corridor Floodplain Restoration, $2,246,580
Little Conestoga Watershed Alliance: Jackson and River Drive Floodplain Restoration Project, $113,000

Lebanon

South Londonderry Township: Killinger Creek Stream Stabilization and Riparian Forest Buffer, $260,000
North Cornwall Township, Cleona Borough: Quittapahilla Creek Floodplain Restoration, $110,500

York

York County Rail Trail Authority: Oil Creek Floodplain Restoration—Design and Permitting, $135,000
York County Conservation District: West Branch Codorus Creek Stream Restoration Phase 2, $563,365