Phoenixville, PA (April 4, 2018) –fRENCH & pICKERING cREEKS cONSERVATION TRUST is leading a major project to protect clean water in the northern Chester County region as a member of the Delaware River Watershed Initiative (DRWI).
The William Penn Foundation announced more than $40 million in new funding for the DRWI, which is among the country’s largest non-governmental conservation efforts to protect and restore clean water. The DRWI is a first-of-its-kind collaboration involving 65 non-governmental organizations working together to protect and restore the Delaware River and its tributaries, which provide drinking water for 15 million people in Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey and Delaware.
“Thanks to the DRWI, French & Pickering was awarded the first Farm Buffer grant in Pennsylvania through the Open Space Institute. The funds assisted in the conservation of 100 acres of environmentally sensitive land, including two headwater streams and mature woodlands. A proposed high-density housing development was extinguished. We hope this project will serve as a model going forward.” Andy Pitz, French & Pickering Creeks Conservation Trust’s Executive Director.
At its 2014 launch, the DRWI catalyzed local and regional groups to accelerate conservation efforts. The DRWI stands out as a basin-scale program driven by non-profits and guided by science. In just over three years DRWI partners have strategically:
- initiated projects that will protect 19,604 acres and restore an additional 8,331 acres, and
- monitored and sampled water quality at more than 500 sites across four states.
This additional $42 million, three-year investment builds on initial successes to protect and restore an estimated 43,484 additional acres and continue science-driven, data-informed efforts to secure clean, abundant water in the basin. The Initiative provides a replicable model that can be used to improve water health across the country.
Threats to the Delaware River basin are significant, demanding a concerted response from private landowners and local officials to protect our natural resources. The DRWI is tackling widespread pollution sources that harm clean water in our rivers and streams: erosion and runoff from deforested acres in headwaters; polluted runoff from agricultural fields; flooding and polluted stormwater from cities and suburbs; and a depleted aquifer in southern New Jersey. These growing problems will threaten drinking water for millions of people every day if left unaddressed.
“By design, The Delaware River Watershed Initiative aligns the work of 65 organizations in the watershed to accelerate conservation,” said Andrew Johnson, program director for Watershed Protection at the William Penn Foundation. “The Initiative is rooted in the strength of these organizations individually and in their ability to collaborate using science to target the most important places for conservation. Together they are protecting and restoring those places, measuring the impact of their efforts on local streams, and learning collectively to improve their work.”
Pitz also says, “We are so grateful to the William Penn Foundation for their leadership and support. They have built a solid collegial alliance of environmental and scientific organizations to take ownership, collectively, of the entire Delaware River Watershed. Already, we see positive changes happening in our local watersheds resulting from this groundbreaking initiative.”
