bethayres dam: before Watershed Protection Aqua America depends on reliable and high-quality natural water sources to provide its services. The preservation efforts of the native vegetation and wildlife surrounding streams, rivers and reservoirs help maintain water quality. Aqua ’s water- shed protection initiatives have preserved large tracts of land, home for wildlife and opportunities for recreation.

Bucks County, Pennsylvania In May 2002, the Bucks County Department of Parks and Recreation, with a grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR), purchased 44 acres of land from Aqua Pennsylvania (then Suburban Water Company). The land is located in parts of Bensalem, Middletown and Lower Southampton townships.

East Bradford Township, Pennsylvania In February 2004, Aqua Pennsylvania donated 36 acres of land to East Bradford Township along the East Branch of the Brandywine Creek near the Ingram’s Mill Water Treatment Plant, preserving the land as open space.

Brush Valley Preservation Project, Pennsylvania In January 2003, Aqua Pennsylvania announced an agreement to transfer 9,000 acres of woodlands to the protective care of DCNR. This conservation achievement offered a rare opportunity for large, uninterrupted and unspoiled woodland with a self-contained watershed to be preserved for both the benefit of the public water supply and public recreational land use.

The project was financed and transferred through multiple interstate partnerships. The Richard King Mellon Foundation and a land trust grant to The Conservation Fund from DCNR’s Community Conservation Partnership Program each provided half of the project funding. DCNR acquired 7,000 acres through this agreement, and Aqua Pennsylvania donated the remaining 2,000 acres. bethayres dam: during razing The property represented a natural oasis for the entire region, being protected for more than 100 years by water company owner- ship. It remains one of the largest, most intact watersheds in the Commonwealth.

The property, east of Shamokin, stretches more than 10 miles along a valley between Big and Little mountains in Coal and Mount Carmel townships in Northumberland County and Conyngham Township in Columbia County. This land contains several reservoirs including the entire Roaring Creek Watershed. DCNR has since incorporated the land as part of the Wyoming State Forest managed by the Bloomsburg district office. The property was dedicated in October 2003 by Governor Edward Rendell for public recreational use.

Bethayres Dam Removal, Pennsylvania The Pennypack Creek was among the nation’s first industrial rivers – dammed from source to mouth, polluted by mills and eroding hillsides and cut off from native fish. Aqua Pennsylvania acquired a water system with an intake on the stream at Bethayres in 1898. The Bethayres dam was erected in 1910. By 2005, the dam was no longer used for supply purposes, and water quality and habitat had improved in the Pennypack.

The removal of the dam was a milestone in restoring this waterway, enabling for the first time since the early 1900s the return of native fish species from the including American shad, hickory shad, blueback herring, alewife, striped bass, white perch, eels and local trout. Approximately 20 miles of passage is open from the Delaware River, along with 7.5 miles of spawning and rearing habitat close to the headwaters of the Pennypack Creek.

The project cost $200,000 and was partially funded by grants and partnerships from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric