Harrisburg, PA – The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) today awarded $3 million in grant funding to local governments and organizations to restore the health of local watersheds around the state by reducing water pollution.

“Reducing current and future nonpoint source pollution is critical to restoring the health of the water ecosystems Pennsylvanians depend on,” said DEP Acting Secretary Ramez Ziadeh. “It requires painstaking work based on understanding the impact that activities on land have on our streams and rivers. DEP is pleased to support communities across Pennsylvania who are working to improve their watersheds one stream segment, one land parcel, one best-practice project at a time.”

The grants target nonpoint source pollution, or pollution that enters streams and rivers from widespread sources, rather than from a single specific discharge point, such as a pipe. About 95 % of water-quality-impaired watersheds in Pennsylvania are affected by the following types of nonpoint source pollution:

Funding comes from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, authorized through Section 319(h) of the federal Water Pollution Control Act.

The DEP Section 319 Nonpoint Source Management Grants program supports projects that carry out best management practices specified in plans for 42 watersheds around the state, with special consideration for projects in Pennsylvania’s share of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. Development of new plans for additional impaired watersheds is also supported.

The 2022 Section 319 Grant funding went to the following recipients:

MEDIA CONTACT: Deb Klenotic, dklenotic@pa.gov, 717-783-9954