A Win for the Conestoga!
The Conestoga River has earned a remarkable honor: it has been named Pennsylvania’s 2026 River of the Year.
Selected through a statewide public vote, this designation recognizes not just the river’s natural beauty, but the people and partnerships working every day to restore and protect it. Flowing more than 60 miles from Berks County to the Susquehanna River, the Conestoga winds through farms, towns, and historic landscapes that define Lancaster County’s identity.
But this recognition is about more than scenery. Once heavily impacted by pollution, the Conestoga is now a powerful example of what’s possible when communities come together around a shared goal. Today, it supports recreation like kayaking, fishing, and tubing, while also serving as a living symbol of progress in improving water quality and restoring ecological health.
This achievement reflects years of collaboration among local governments, nonprofits, farmers, businesses, and residents. It is proof that meaningful change happens when a community commits to caring for its watershed.
And now, it is time to celebrate.
As Pennsylvania’s River of the Year, the Conestoga will be the focus of a full slate of events and activities throughout 2026. From on-the-water experiences to community gatherings, these celebrations will highlight the river’s history, its ongoing restoration, and the people who make this work possible. A signature River of the Year paddle is already planned for June, inviting residents and visitors alike to experience the Conestoga from a new perspective.
In the months ahead, these events will not only celebrate how far the river has come, but also inspire continued action to ensure it remains clean and clear for future generations. The plans for celebrating the river are summed up beautifully in the following letter by Conestoga River Club Executive Director, Malina Harnish Clatterbuck.
Lancaster County Watershed Community,
Thank you to all of you for the part you played in helping to get the Conestoga River recognized as River of the Year for 2026. Some of you helped write the application, some of you solicited votes from your organization’s members, and many of you successfully added your vote for the Conestoga. It was definitely a community effort. Now we look to you to continue that community effort as we spend a year focusing on the Conestoga River as River of the Year
The CRC understands that none of us owns the Conestoga River. Rather, the Conestoga River is the heart of life in our Lancaster Community. She provides the water we drink from the tap. She carries away our waste. She provides habitat for fish and birds and insects, flowers and plants and trees. Lancaster would not be what Lancaster is without her.
As we at the CRC seek to participate in the continued restoration to health of this water trail, (and therefore contribute to the health of all life in this watershed), we continue to realize that this can only happen if we work together.
To honor our River of the Year, we are planning a series of programs throughout this year, which will bring greater attention to the Conestoga River and all she offers the community. With the launch of our new CRC website in the beginning of April, you can have access to see and sign up for our diversified series of programs. They will include a River Art Series, Fun Facts Floats Series, as well as new Mother’s Day, Father’s Day and Independence Day family float opportunities. We know a lot of you have great ideas about how to Celebrate, Honor, and Clean Up the Conestoga River, and we welcome your help.
If any of you – as individuals, or as organizations, or businesses – have ideas for programming, stewardship or conservation, please contact us with those ideas. We want to work with you, support you, and bring you along with our own endeavors. (Many of you have things in the works that we may not even know about yet).
Feel free to contact Malinda Harnish Clatterbuck, Executive Director, at malinda@conestogariverclub.org. We can’t promise to make all of these ideas a reality, but we know that we can accomplish more together than we can separately. And that all good things start with an idea.
With gratitude and hope,
Malinda Clatterbuck & the whole CRC Team
