Pennsylvania awards $24 million to clean waterways in Chesapeake Bay drainage

From the Pa. Department of Environmental Protection

Harrisburg — The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection recently awarded $24 million to reduce pollution and restore local streams, rivers, and lakes in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. 

DEP awarded grants through the 2025 Countywide Action Program to county teams across Pennsylvania’s share of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed.

“These grants have been used to implement everything from streambank tree plantings to livestock crossing installations,” said DEP Acting Secretary Jessica Shirley. “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.”’

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 – the highest grade ever awarded to the overall health of the bay since the report was created.

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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.

The 2025 Countywide Action Program Implementation Grant round brought in applications for 205 projects that will be completed in the next 12 to 18 months, resulting in an estimated reduction of nearly 110,000 pounds/year of nitrogen, 42,150 pounds/year of phosphorus, and 11.8 million pounds/year of sediment.

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.

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 grant-funded work.

The 2025 Countywide Action Program Implementation Grants were awarded to:

Adams County Conservation District: $389,000

Bedford County Conservation District: $440,475_Berks County Conservation District: $200,000

Blair County Conservation District: $386,598

Bradford County Conservation District: $256,350

Cambria County Conservation District: $200,000

Centre County Conservation District: $751,261

Chester County Conservation District: $67,295.75

Clearfield County Conservation District: $116,747

Clinton County Commissioners: $136,774

Cumberland County Commissioners: $214,965.50

Franklin County Conservation District: $1,219,663

Fulton County Conservation District: $241,497

Huntingdon County Conservation District: $542,142

Lackawanna County Conservation District: $294,503

Lancaster County Conservation District: $5,921,801

Lebanon County Conservation District: $670,062

Luzerne Conservation District: $264,346

Lycoming County Commissioners: $492,447

Montour County Conservation District: $924,704 for Montour, Columbia, and Sullivan counties

Northumberland County Conservation District: $ 211,000

Potter County Conservation District: $200,000

Schuylkill Conservation District: $447,135

Snyder County Conservation District: $863,863 for Snyder and Union counties

Susquehanna County: $294,880

Tioga County Conservation District: $378,577

Tri-County Regional Planning Commission: $2,174,710 for Dauphin, Perry, Juniata, and Mifflin counties

York County Planning Commission: $404,218.75

All or part of 43 counties are in Pennsylvania’s share of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. The area spans half the state and includes over 12,000 miles of polluted streams and rivers.