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VUSP PA Stormwater SymposiumVillanova University, PA

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Delaware River Watershed

Source: ESRI

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Population 8.5M

Source: Kauffman U. Delaware

Source: OSI

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Water supply for 17M

Source: NYC DEP

Source: DRBC

$25 billion economic value

Source: Visit PA

Source: Kauffman U. Delaware

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1870’s

Source: PhillyH2O7

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14(m

g/l)

Monthly mean Dissolved Oxygen at Ben Franklin Bridge, Philadelphia

HYPOXIC CONDITIONS

Data source: USGS

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Delaware River ranked 5th in the nation for highest amount of total toxic discharge

– 14,805 lb cancer causing chemicals (21st)

– 2,587 lb developmental toxics (26th)

– 2,510 lb reproductive toxics (13th)

132.8 million pounds Total N– 104.5 million pounds NPS

Source: USGS SPARROW

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Lost 100K forested acres each year between 2006-2011

– Pipelines could be responsible for an additional 6K acres

(source: DRN)

(source: BCC)(source: Berks Nature)

Pesticides commonly detected in surface water and finished drinking water– Atrazine, metolachlor,

simazine, prometon, alachlor, tebuthiuron, cyanazine, etc.

Source: USGS

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1,000

1,500

2,000

2,500

3,000

1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015

Squa

re M

iles

Delaware River Watershed Impervious Cover

Source: CWP Source: CIMISS15

Source: RNajjar, Penn StateData Source: NLCD

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• $15MM for operations – Supporting operations for

over 50 organizations

• $6MM for monitoring– Maintaining or collecting data

from over 300 stream sites

• $7MM for restoration– $4.5MM to 34 projects

leveraging $9.5MM

• $10MM for protection– $4.5MM for 18 projects

protecting 13,728 acres leveraging $36.6MM

• $15MM from USDA– Regional Conservation

Partnership Program

DRWI Phase I: >$230MM in projects, >$35MM in WPF funds

$60MM leveraged to date

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Delaware RiverDelaware River WatershedCounties

9 Long-Term Integrative Monitoring Sites9 Project-Specific & General Monitoring Sites!( Restoration Project Awards

Protection Project Awards (acres)") 12 - 111") 112 - 548") 549 - 810") 811 - 1588") 1589 - 2449

Targeted Sub-Watershed ClustersPoconos and KittatinnyUpper LehighNew Jersey HighlandsMiddle SchuylkillSchuylkill HighlandsUpstream Suburban PhiladelphiaBrandywine and ChristinaKirkwood Cohansey Aquifer

• Project tracking• Ongoing monitoring• Third party evaluation• Adaptive management

Spending ≠ Impact

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POCONO KITTATINNYUPPER LEHIGH

MIDDLE SCHUYLKILL

SCHUYLKILL HIGHLANDS

BRANDYWINE CHRISTINA

UPSTREAM SUBURBAN PHILADELPHIA

NEW JERSEY HIGHLANDS

• Scoring system:

GoodFair

Poor

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– Scale of the basin (8 million acres 106)→– Scale of the Cluster (500,000 acres 104) →– Scale of the focus area (20,000 acres 103) →– Scale of the project site (4 acres 100) →

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Requires leverage of partnerships…– 150 PA municipalities in focus areas– 304 PA municipalities in clusters– 525 PA municipalities across the Delaware Basin– Plus academic institutions– Plus government and non-profit– Plus engineering professionals; over 140 registered

for this symposium!

Challenges of scale and impact persist!

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Federal $98MM

Non Profits $66MM

Municipal $65MM

State $53MM

Conservation Districts $34MM

County $24MM

Regional $5MMPower Companies

$2MMWater Purveyors $1MM

Wastewater Utilities $1MM

$350 Million Total

Source: Kauffman, U. Delaware, 2015

…and funding!More state funding?• Delaware’s Clear Choice• New Jersey Keep It Green• Pennsylvania Growing Greener• Supplemental Environmental

Projects (SEPs) in NJ • Community Environmental

Projects (CEPs) in PAMore private donors?• Foundations and individualsMore federal recognition?• National Parks• Estuary Program• Delaware River Basin

Conservation ActNew municipal, regional sources?• water funds• Program Related Investments

(PRIs)

Public Conservation Funding in the Delaware River Watershed

• Hundreds of municipalities– Partners in water quality monitoring

• E.g., Middle Schuylkill: Reading Area Water Authority, Kutztown Borough, Western Berks Water Authority

– Partners in planning and code development• E.g., Upper Lehigh cluster and Kidder Township

– Partners in project implementation• E.g., Upstream Suburban Philadelphia and $300K to Upper Gwynedd

– Partners in technical assistance• E.g., Delaware Regional Planning Commission municipal panel

• Dozens of academic partnerships in applied research and monitoring

• E.g., Moravia, Lehigh, Temple, Villanova, Drexel, Kutztown, Albright, Ursinus, Reading Area Community College

• Thousands of professional restoration firms• E.g., NAM Landscape Architecture, AKRF, Cerulean Project Management,

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Thank you

ansp.org/research/environmental-research/projects/watershed-protection-program/

nfwf.org/delaware

osiny.org/site/PageServer?pagename=Issues_Watershed_Fund_2williampennfoundation.org/what-we-fund-watershed-protection

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