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Throughout
the Susquehanna River Basin, clean water is essential for healthy aquatic
systems, as well as industrial, municipal, and recreational use. In addition,
because the Susquehanna River supplies 50 percent of the freshwater inflow
to the Chesapeake Bay, the restoration and protection of water quality
in the basin is vital to the entire bay restoration effort. One
of the primary challenges to resource managers, government agencies, private
groups, and concerned citizens is to restore and maintain aquatic resources
and the quality of life in the region while also providing for the basin's
growing population and economic development.
The Watershed Assessment
and Protection (WAP) Division monitors and assesses the biological, chemical,
and physical quality of the basin's waters. The Division also performs
a wide variety of water resource planning and coordination activities
to support restoration and protection efforts. Staff has professional
expertise and experience in the fields of aquatic biology, chemistry,
limnology, hydrogeology, computer modeling, and natural resource management.
For more information on the Division's activities, mission statement,
and strategic plan, click on the following:
Watershed
Assessment and Protection Programs Strategic Plan (PDF)
Summary of
SRBC Watershed Assessment and Protection Activities: Monitoring
and Assessment
Coordination and Planning
Restoration
Protection
Data Management
Monitoring
and Assessment
Since its inception, SRBC has been monitoring and assessing streams
throughout the Susquehanna River Basin. The monitoring program incorporates
biological, water quality, and physical habitat monitoring, depending
on the specific needs of the project. Current monitoring programs include:
Chesapeake
Bay Program Monitoring
Interstate Streams
Large
River Assessment
Subbasin Surveys--
Year 1
Lower
(2006)
Juniata
(2005)
West
Branch (2003)
Middle
(2002)
Upper
(1999)
Year 2
Lower
(2007)
Juniata
(2006)
West
Branch (2005)
Middle
(2004)
Upper
(2001)
In addition to its internal monitoring projects,
SRBC also assists the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection
with monitoring for TMDL development and its State
Surface Water Assessment Program.
SRBC staff also assists education and watershed groups with monitoring
activities, including the restoration of the Audenreid
Tunnel in the Catawissa Creek drainage and teacher training for sediment
and nutrient monitoring.
Based on results from
SRBC water quality surveys, staff develops a consolidated
listing report every two years as required under Section 305(b)
of the Clean Water Act. This report provides information on impaired and
attaining stream miles, sources and causes of impairment, and an overview
of monitoring activities and assessments. Staff also prepares electronic
updates during those years when full reports are not prepared.
SRBC maintains a USEPA
approved Elements
of a Monitoring Strategy document,
which details the monitoring and assessment strategy for the next ten
years. Staff is committed to maintaining a high-quality monitoring program
and, to this end, developed a Quality
Management Plan (QMP) as well as Quality
Assurance Project Plans (QAPPs) for each of WAP Division's monitoring
activities. The project specific QMP and QAPPs can be found on SRBC’s
Quality Assurance Page.
Coordination
and Planning
Coordination
is vital to protecting, restoring, using and enhancing water resources
in the Susquehanna River Basin. The WAP Division coordinates with federal,
regional, state, and local agencies, watershed groups, and private citizens
on issues related to water quality, biological resources, and aquatic
habitat. Coordination occurs through a wide variety of avenues, such as
outreach efforts, publications, technical training sessions, and meetings.
Staff participates on SRBC committees, including the Water
Quality Advisory Committee, the Water Resources Management Advisory Committee,
and the Agricultural Water Use Advisory Committee, and assists
with a wide variety of other Commission-wide planning efforts.
Some of WAP Division's
external commitments include participation on various state, federal,
regional and local committees, and work groups. Through its coordination
activities, SRBC strives to build partnerships to better serve the general
public and the water resource needs in the basin.
Restoration
SRBC encourages and supports efforts to remediate and enhance the water
resources of the basin. With thousands of stream miles in the basin not
meeting water-quality standards, concentrated efforts are needed to restore
streams and groundwater to a healthy condition. SRBC is engaged in numerous
studies and initiatives aligned with member jurisdiction priorities to
address problems associated with agriculture, AMD and urban runoff. Examples
of restoration activities include:
Paxton Creek Watershed Stormwater Project
Developing
TMDLs for Waters in Pennsylvania
Tioga
Watershed Assessment and Restoration Planning
Migratory
Fish Restoration
West
Branch Susquehanna Subbasin AMD Remediation Strategy
Bear
Run Watershed AMD Remediation Project
Protection
SRBC promotes sound water quality and watershed management practices to
protect the water resources of the basin. The most effective means of
protecting environmental and human health is to assess contaminant threats
to water quality before a problem has occurred. One important area is
the protection of water supplies. SRBC has been an active proponent for
the assessment of contaminant threats to drinking water supplies in the
basin, and has assisted water suppliers in developing protection plans.
Some examples of projects include:
Developing
the Susquehanna River Early Warning System
Defining Water
Stressed Areas and Developing Water Budgets
Data
Management
The WAP Division collects environmental data from a wide variety of sources
and is actively involved in organizing, maintaining, and distributing
data and information for effective water resource management. The Division
maintains a database of water quality, aquatic habitat, and benthic macroinvertebrate
data.
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