Project Clean Stream is an Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay initiative offering hands-on opportunities through local partnerships to take action to restore clean local waterways. Volunteers are empowered with the agency to lead their own stream cleanups and build a stronger sense of place in their communities and ultimately foster a healthier and more sustainable relationship with the Chesapeake watershed.
For this project, the Alliance plans to focus efforts in the Southwest quadrant of the City of Lancaster, where we will have two staff-led cleanups and smaller monthly community champion-led cleanups while partnering with local institutions. We will provide champions with stipends for their time. We are also focused on tracking a cultural and behavioral shift around litter and building educational aspects and public awareness around litter’s impact on clean water. The Alliance has actively partnered with SoWe for the last few years and this project will build on this engagement.

The Lancaster One Water Partnership (LOWP) is a regional hub of faith-based action to address highly fragmented non-source pollution challenges and opportunities. By working with communities of faith, we reach non-traditional partners who are private landowners, many of whom generate stormwater pollution or who offer opportunities for significant increased tree canopy, aligning with the goals of the Countywide Action Plan. To achieve these outcomes, we will conduct quarterly events in collaboration with partner congregations to forge connections with faith communities throughout the region, recruit 3-5 faith-based congregations in Lancaster County to build green teams and create action plans, host monthly meetings with our volunteer Lancaster Task Force, develop a water-based experiential education program, and cultivate relationships with 3-5 DEIJ faith-based congregations to determine how to best support local leaders in clean water equity and justice needs.

This Let’s Go 1-2-3 project will engage new audiences by providing education and outreach through us partnering with Thaddeus Stevens College and the Lancaster City Housing Authority. Our project, titled, “Southeast Growing Greener & Sowing Seeds of Change” will engage the southeast neighborhoods in the City of Lancaster using the Let’s Go 1-2-3 model of engagement to (1) organize a Community Green Team, (2) develop and conduct neighborhood surveys to build knowledge and awareness about green space(s) and sustainable practices for healthy lands and clean water, and (3) celebrate with a Nature Fest for the community.

This funding will support the continuation of the River Connections project, which has increased awareness and engagement with local communities of color, enhanced their relationship, highlighted their history, and encouraged action to protect and care for the Conestoga River.
The primary portion of the funding will be to develop and implement a Love Your Block River Connections grant to support the continued installation of storm drain murals and performance art throughout the City. We will use the remaining funds to engage a local artist to help us bring to life Rosie the Fish — an animated ambassador to educate the public, specifically school-aged residents, about the river and the work done through the River Connections project.

Grantee: Lancaster Farmland Trust

Lancaster Farmland Trust is working in partnership with Trees for Graziers to implement strategic silvopasture plantings on farms in Lancaster County. Silvopasture is the practice of integrating trees and forage with healthy livestock grazing practices. Ecological benefits include reducing nitrogen in streams, sequestering carbon, infiltrating water, reducing erosion and providing habitat for wildlife.Local economic benefits include providing shade, improving the health of livestock, and diversifying farm incomes through the sale of products like chestnuts or walnuts. This project will serve as an example of agroforestry at work – a model that can demonstrate the ability of our farmers to earn good incomes from small pieces of land, while still being responsible stewards of our water and environment.

Grantee: Cocalico Creek Watershed Association

The Cocalico Creek Watershed Association will be leading a project directly adjacent to Middle Creek, which was identified as a high priority project during outreach with Clay Township. This project will divert clean stormwater to a pipe system instead of flowing through an open feed-storage area. Runoff from feed bunks will pass through screens in the pipes to retain solids at each high-flow/low-flow separator. Nutrients collected will be applied to vegetation during drier times.

Grantee: Octoraro Watershed Association

The Octoraro Watershed Association is partnering with a beef operation and crop farm (i.e. corn silage, alfalfa, tobacco) in Bart Township. The following Best Management Practices (BMPs) will be installed: grassed waterways, a plow skip, and a diversion to repair existing erosion gullies, underground outlets and a water & sediment control basin to control runoff from the fields and farmstead, as well as manure storage, fencing, access road, and waste transfer. 

Grantee: City of Lancaster

The City of Lancaster’s Long’s Park Project will utilize a Natural Treatment System (NTS) and a pump station to convey water from Long’s Pond through a treatment train consisting of a Floating Wetland Island Forebay Pond, an Iron-Enhanced Sand Filter, and two Emergent Aquatic Vegetation Marshes, with discharge to Long’s Pond. The NTS will provide an attractive resting, nesting, and feeding habitat for waterfowl, wading birds, and aquatic wildlife. In addition, the design will be a valuable addition to the community for both passive recreation and educational benefit. 

Grantee: East Petersburg Borough

East Petersburg will complete the project on borough-owned property, known as “The Meadows,” surrounded by commercial and residential properties. The Bioswale Meadows Project will correct drainage issues in the area while meeting the goals of clean water, natural vegetation, and flood control. To do so, East Petersburg Borough will be removing the existing pipe and creating a bioswale.

Grantee: The Conservation Foundation of Lancaster County

The Conservation Foundation of Lancaster County is partnering with the PSU Agriculture and Environment Center to achieve comprehensive whole farm conservation implementation at a dairy farm in the Shearers Creek watershed. Although the creek currently reports high quality water, impaired wild brown trout fisheries have continued to struggle in the upper Chiques Creek watershed. Extensive best management practices will be implemented to provide safe and adequate manure storage and to  eliminate a pasture’s impacts through existing barnyard, road, and feeding area runoff areas to an unnamed tributary of Shearers Creek. To minimize erosion and sedimentation, and add in-stream fish habitat for wild brown trout, the project will plant approximately 15 acres of forest riparian buffers and stream restoration to restore unstable, eroding stream banks.

Grantee: Interfaith Partners of the Chesapeake

The Lancaster One Water Partnership is a regional hub of faith-based action to address highly fragmented non-source pollution challenges and opportunities. By working with communities of faith, Interfaith Partners of the Chesapeake can reach non-traditional partners who are private landowners, many of which generate stormwater pollution or who offer opportunities for significantly increased tree canopy, aligning with the goals of Lancaster’s Countywide Action Plan.

Grantee: Lancaster Conservancy

Water quality education and training starts in people’s yards. This project will serve as a pilot to educate community members about the use of native plants and water quality landscaping practices. While the Lancaster Conservancy’s work of land protection does a lot to protect water quality, we need community members to implement conservation landscaping. This program will empower community members to implement runoff controlling native habitat plantings in their neighborhoods.

Grantee: Lancaster Conservancy

Water quality education and training starts in people’s yards. This project will serve as a pilot to educate community members about the use of native plants and water quality landscaping practices. While the Lancaster Conservancy’s work of land protection does a lot to protect water quality, we need community members to implement conservation landscaping. This program will empower community members to implement runoff controlling native habitat plantings in their neighborhoods.

Culliton Park (formerly Farnum Park) is one of the city’s largest public parks and the most prominent park in the SouthWest neighborhood. This project has been several years in the making. After extensive input from neighborhood residents, the design was completed with artist involvement and construction commenced in February of 2020 and will be completed in November 2020.

Grantee: Londonderry Township

Londonderry Township plans to host its first water quality-focused 5k race and fun run. The race will begin at Old Trolley Line Park in Mount Joy and end at the Route 230 trailhead, where a community field day will be set up. The 5k will be a fundraiser for the Tri-County Conewago Creek Association and Londonderry Township’s future clean water projects. The community field day will be an educational event for local residents to engage with conservationists and take a tour of a restoration project. 

Read more about the Murry Ridge Park Green Infrastructure Improvements.

Grantee: River Steward’s Collaborative

Lancaster County has the second highest population of Plain Sect/Amish in the United States. River Stewards Collaborative, with support from experts at LandStudies, Lancaster Farmland Trust, and Mr. Paul Fisher, an “Amish Liaison,” will develop handouts and presentations, and lead a series of engagement meetings with Plain Sect landowners in the county, to educate them on the impacts farming practices can have on the local and Chesapeake watersheds.

Read more about the Paradise Township vegetated swale project.

Grantee: Spanish American Civic Association

This project will motivate and inform residents and visitors in Southeast Lancaster about their relationship with waterways, specifically the underlying history of people and events. SACA will produce three educational programs for WLCH radio aired during Education Through Partnering, and install six historical markers, each with a QR code linked to SACA’s web site for obtaining in-depth information. Markers will be installed in coordination with the City’s 2023 South Duke Streetscape Project that funds lighting, crosswalks, sidewalks, trees, bike racks, benches, and bus shelters.

Grantee: Chiques Creek Watershed Alliance

This project will plant and establish three acres of wildflower and grass meadow along Dellinger Run in the Chiques Creek watershed. The meadow will be planted within an existing young forested riparian buffer and along a completed stream restoration project. After 4 years of maintaining the project, the landowner is looking for opportunities to reduce routine maintenance long-term.

Grantee: Mount Joy Borough

Mount Joy Borough will construct a 30-foot wide retrofitted bioswale for the Reserves at Union School community. The Borough will engage in a partnership with the development’s Homeowners Association for long-term maintenance and upkeep. The project is based upon the design of student intern, Leslie Hendricks, and includes removing current growth and sentiment from the swale and replacing with various layers of a designed plant community, utilizing drought, wet and salt tolerant plants and vegetation.

The Turtle Hill Streambank Restoration Project, in West Earl Township, includes implementation of an approximately 1,535 linear feet streambank restoration project along an unnamed tributary to the Conestoga River north of Turtle Hill Road in Ephrata. The project area is agricultural and is directly downstream from a 1,250 linear feet stream restoration project completed by the Township in 2019. The proposed restoration includes grading the existing vertical banks to create a low, flat floodplain bench on each side of the unnamed tributary that allows increased stream flows to access the floodplain, dissipating potentially erosive energy. The proposed project includes 3,245 linear feet of livestock fencing, 8 permanent fence gates, and 196 linear feet of livestock slat crossings.

The Eshelman Run streambank stabilization project is a 400 linear feet reach of stream near the headwaters of Eshelman Run, which captures runoff from Strasburg Borough. Sediment deposition from the drainage area, large volumes of water and little connection to the floodplain have all contributed to bank erosion along the project reach. This project aims to stabilize the stream and establish a riparian buffer.

The Conewago Creek Stream Restoration project includes the implementation of stream restoration, legacy sediment removal, floodplain reconnection, and wetland creation that will lead to quantifiable improvements to water quality, promote enhanced ecosystem resiliency and support the goals of the Lancaster County CAP. Due to the extent of the improvements, the project has been divided into three phases. Funding from the Clean Water Fund is supporting Phase 2 of the project, located in Mount Joy Township, Lancaster County. It will result in 3,213 LF of stream restoration, 5.2 acres of wetland creation and floodplain reconnection, and 52,619 cubic yards of legacy sediment removal. 

Lancaster Farmland Trust’s project aims to reduce nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment pollution flowing from a farm in East Earl Township. Best management practices installed will include barnyard improvements, specifically concrete and roofed heavy use areas, a roofed manure stacking structure, roof water controls, underground piping, cattle walkways, and stabilized access roads. It’ll also include 2,400 feet of streambank fencing and the installation of a 1.9-acre buffer.

The project seeks to enhance a segment of the Amos Herr Park property, within the East Hempfield Township Municipal Complex, in an area that is currently either wetlands or is proposed through the Municipalities’ planning initiatives to be naturalized. This segment is on the east side of the Amos Herr Park campus and on the east side of Swarr Run. The project aims to forward this initiative by expanding any existing wetlands, re-grading portions of the area to create a space for increased wetland establishment, installing a system of interconnected trail pathways around the extents of the created wetland area, and naturalizing the remaining lands. 

Grantee: Denver Borough

Denver Borough will install a native riparian forest buffer, green stormwater management infrastructure practices, and restore a portion of the Cocalico Creek near the Denver Park Annex, adjacent to Denver Memorial Park. Grant funding from the Lancaster County Clean Water Fund will be used to design and construct the two rain gardens and three constructed wetland areas. This project is designed to enhance the active and passive recreational opportunities in the Park Annex by developing the existing greenway in an environmentally sound way that prevents flood damage and soil erosion, protects surface water quality, improves wildlife habitat, provides educational opportunities, and blends the region’s natural diversity with man-made development. 

Grantee: Friends of Fishing Creek

Nestled at the southern end of Lancaster County, the Fishing Creek watershed is a hidden gem. In the Fishing Creek Nature Preserve you’ll find a quiet stream that hosts freshwater trout, cranes, herons, and countless other species. With this grant, Friends of Fishing Creek will provide educational information in the form of signage and a bus tour. These hands-on experiences with local community members will emphasize the importance of protecting these waterways. 

“Friends of Fishing Creek would like to share our overwhelming gratitude to the Community Foundation and the Lancaster Clean Water Partners. The Friends of Fishing Creek watershed group strives to educate the public on community-driven water stewardship, and help preserve the overall health of the Fishing Creek watershed. Thanks to the Clean Water Fund, our organization has big plans to engage and educate our local community on the importance of water quality!”

Grantee: Lancaster Farmland Trust

Lancaster Farmland Trust will work with three farms in the Pequea Creek Watershed to implement agricultural BMPs. BMPs  include manure management, barnyard improvements, animal walkways, fencing, pipes and stabilized outlets to control driveway runoff and roof water; and critical seeding and mulching where needed.

Grantee: Strasburg Jay Cee Park

Strasburg Jay Cee Park will restore 300 linear feet of stream to an unnamed tributary to Little Beaver Creek. In August of 2020, an 8’ dam failed in a flood resulting in extreme incision and associated bank failure, releasing tons of legacy sediments downstream. The stream is actively degrading, with the likelihood of instabilities migrating upstream. The work will raise the channel invert and stabilize the banks to create a stable, well-vegetated channel with a shallow floodplain bench that will slow flood flow velocities and dissipate potentially erosive energy. The work will address excessive sedimentation and habitat degradation that currently exists, and proposed benches will increase the potential for wetland development. Improved habitat will be provided through the establishment of a native species riparian buffer.

Grantee: Little Conestoga Creek Foundation

The Blue/Green Corridor Project Phase 1 stream restoration is on Little Conestoga Creek Foundation property along Marietta Ave in Lancaster Township. Phase 1 will implement specific BMP components identified in the Countywide Action Plan to address nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment reductions. 

These improvements include restoration of floodplain wetlands and degraded stream channels to improve water quality, increase stream health and resiliency. The restoration includes establishment of forested riparian buffers on both sides of the stream on adjacent uplands. The riparian buffer totals 1.37 acres in addition to 1,121 linear feet of stream restoration and 2.4 acres of wetlands located within a designated Urban Area. Phase 1 is the first of six restoration reaches for a 2.5-mile corridor project. The highly visible Phase 1 site will highlight and restore a community resource which will have regional pollution reduction impacts significant to Lancaster County that extend to the Chesapeake Bay.

Grantee: Quarryville Borough

Ten years ago along an unnamed tributary of Little Beaver Creek, Quarryville Borough planted a riparian buffer in collaboration with the Pequea Creek Watershed Association. With great growth and success of the buffer, there also came questions from residents regarding the “messy” look of the area. With this funding, the borough will create a trail along the buffer with educational signage to educate residents and visitors of all ages on the value of the riparian buffer to stream life, wildlife, plant life, and humans. 

“We are excited to embark on a project that educates the public on the importance of forested riparian buffers for clean water in our local streams. The importance of clean water and healthy streams for our local community cannot be taken for granted. Through education we hope to encourage residents and visitors to participate in volunteer opportunities to plant trees and shrubs to create more forested riparian buffers.”

Grantee: Interfaith Partners of the Chesapeake

One Water Partnership is a regional hub of faith-based action to address highly fragmented non-source pollution challenges and opportunities. With this funding, Interfaith Partners of the Chesapeake will recruit 3-5 faith-based organizations in Lancaster County to build green teams, a training that will equip teams to mobilize around clean water, educate congregation members, lead activities or programs, and implement stormwater best practices on their properties. 

“The faith community is an eager and willing partner in efforts to achieve clean water in Lancaster County. This funding will help us build their capacity so that they can answer their call to be good caretakers of God’s Creation!” – Jodi Rose, Executive Director, Interfaith Partners of the Chesapeake

Grantee: Conservation Foundation of Lancaster County

The Conservation Foundation of Lancaster County will work with two Plain Sect farms in the upper Pequea Creek Watershed for stream and pastureland improvements. These projects build upon previous work completed by the Lancaster Conservation District, Salisbury Township, Team Ag, and Lancaster Farmland Trust in this area. Project details involve nearly 2,900 linear feet of stream restoration, over 4,000 ft. streambank fencing, an average riparian buffer inside the fence of 35-50 feet or 6.1 acres of buffer, 2 livestock walkways to control sediment and nutrient runoff to the stream from the pastures, and 4 livestock/equipment crossings along Indian Springs Run and the headwaters of the Pequea Creek.

Grantee: Lititz Borough

The North Lane rain garden installation in Lititz Borough will take excess water from North Lane, filter it while reducing the ponding on the roadway, and discharge the clean water to nearby Lititz Run. This location is the last to need stormwater implementation. Multiple rain gardens currently dot the landscape along the corridor, so this project will complete the bioretention corridor. 

“Lititz Borough is thrilled to have received a Clean Water Implementation Grant from the Lancaster Clean Water Partners to continue our work to improve the water quality of Lititz Run. This project will be the seventh small stormwater best management practice installed by the Borough, and will be the third completed on Lancaster General Health/Penn Medicine property along the stream. Not only are each of these facilities a good example of how these BMPs can be sized and placed within a developed community, they each do their part to improve our stream.”

Grantee: Lititz Borough

The North Lane rain garden installation in Lititz Borough will take excess water from North Lane, filter it while reducing the ponding on the roadway, and discharge the clean water to nearby Lititz Run. This location is the last to need stormwater implementation. Multiple rain gardens currently dot the landscape along the corridor, so this project will complete the bioretention corridor. 

“Lititz Borough is thrilled to have received a Clean Water Implementation Grant from the Lancaster Clean Water Partners to continue our work to improve the water quality of Lititz Run. This project will be the seventh small stormwater best management practice installed by the Borough, and will be the third completed on Lancaster General Health/Penn Medicine property along the stream. Not only are each of these facilities a good example of how these BMPs can be sized and placed within a developed community, they each do their part to improve our stream.”

Grantee: City of Lancaster

There is a lack of understanding in the watershed protection and restoration movement of people’s current and historical connections to local waterways, specifically the Conestoga River. The purpose of this project is to raise awareness of the quality of waterways in Lancaster County and to foster a sense of stewardship for the Conestoga River watershed. To accomplish this, the City will work with community leaders to gather personal stories about people’s connections to the river and share those stories through various artistic mediums such as plays, music, visual art, poetry, and more. 

“Lancastrians have a long and often cherished history and relationship with the Conestoga River, however some of these connections are not well known. We’re excited to shine a light on people’s experiences with the river and to honor those connections as we continue to build a community of stewards for this valued natural resource.”  Steve Campbell, Director, Department of Public Works

Grantee: East Donegal Township

East Donegal Township is partnering with Marietta Borough, with support from private property owners to design, permit, and construct 1,300 linear feet of streambank restoration along the most unstable portions of this reach. Sections of the 2,150 linear foot project reach are eroded with steep banks due to the high flows from the large upstream drainage area and lack of stabilization along the banks. In addition to streambank restoration, the project will expand the riparian buffer along the entire 2,150-foot reach. This will result in the creation of 3.5 acres of buffer habitat. East Donegal Township was awarded a $200,000 Growing Greener Grant from PA DEP in December of 2020, and the township will use this additional funding to take the project from design to construction.

Grantee: Tri-County Conewago Creek Watershed Association

After several years of quiet activity, TCCCA recently brought on renewed leadership and is ready to re-engage residents in the Conewago Creek Watershed. Funds from this grant will be used to send mailers to all 4,400 households in the watershed informing residents on how to get involved, and develop and install signage along the Conewago Recreational Trail highlighting several projects visible from the trail. 

“TCCCA is incredibly excited to envision clean and clear water by 2040, and welcome community members to get involved!”

Grantee: Donegal Trout Unlimited

The Donegal chapter of Trout Unlimited’s mission is to help landowners and farmers protect, reconnect, restore, and sustain cold water fisheries and watersheds in Lancaster County. This funding will assist with that mission by restoring and maintaining 0.4 miles of the main branch of Fishing Creek and one of its unnamed tributaries located in Drumore Township. Specifically, DTU will install BMPs to decrease nutrient and sediment loads by filtering agriculture runoff, removing invasive plants and trees, improving fish habitat in a naturally reproducing trout stream, and restoring 3.25 acres of wetlands. 

“We are excited that this grant completed the funding requirements for Phase 2 of the Camp Andrews stream restoration project, including restoration of 3.25 acres of wetlands.” — Barry Witmer, President, Donegal Trout Unlimited