THE CONEWAGO CREEK INITIATIVE a Model for Community Watershed Engagement

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THE CONEWAGO CREEK INITIATIVE a Model for Community Watershed Engagement THE CONEWAGO CREEK INITIATIVE A model for community watershed engagement Matt Royer Director, Agriculture & Environment Center Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences (814) 863-8756, [email protected] Conewago Creek Timeline “The Stars Align” (M Hubler) Photo by DCCD Conewago TCCCA DCCD’s First Initiative NFWF Founded 319 Grant Grant to PSU 2002 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 Conewago TCCCA USDA WIP Hershey Showcase Finalized Meadows Watershed 319 Grant Designation Photo by NRCS Conewago Creek Initiative The Partnership Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay Red Barn Consulting Aquatic Resource Restoration Co. RGS Associates Capital Area RC&D South Londonderry Township Chesapeake Bay Foundation Stroud Water Research Center Chesapeake Commons Susquehanna River Basin Commission Dauphin County Conservation District Tetra Tech Elizabethtown Area Water Authority Tri-County Conewago Creek Association Elizabethtown College USDA Agriculture Research Service Lancaster County Conservation District USDA NRCS LandStudies, Inc. US Fish and Wildlife Service Lebanon County Conservation District US Geologic Survey Londonderry Township Viable Industries, LLC Lower Dauphin High School Wild Resources, Inc. Milton Hershey School ZedX, Inc. PA DEP Penn State Public Media Penn State University Conewago Creek Initiative Organizational Structure Project Advisory Team (PAT) Stewardship Envt’l Markets Monitoring Development BMP Team Non Ag Team Team Team Team Staff support provided by Penn State Agriculture and Environment Center • Project Coordinator (M. Royer) • Assistant Project Coordinator (K. Kyler) • Student Interns Conewago Initiative Our Approach Place People Practices Impact People • Over 100 residents engaged to create a vision for the watershed • CCDs: Letters to farmers, farmer meetings, farm surveys • Landowner survey (K. Brasier, PSU) People • Over 40 community events engaging 1,300 participants • 135 “Stream Team” volunteers trained, 3,400 youth involved • Website (conewagoinitiative.net), e-newsletter, Facebook Place • Communicating value of ecosystem services: Stories from the Conewago Place Place • Identifying environmental market opportunities (12 nutrient trading assessments) Practices Conservation Planning Practices BMP Implementation • Over 7,000 trees planted • 60 acres riparian buffers restored • 1,920 acres of conservation tillage • 183 acres of cover crops • 26,000 feet of fencing • 4,700 feet of stream bank restoration • 31,850 feet of terraces • 5,475 feet of diversions Practices BMP Implementation Rates Practices Stormwater Program • SW/urban assessment • Developed cost share program • 22 stormwater plans • 14 stormwater BMPs implemented Practices Municipal Outreach Program • Conservation Toolbox for Municipalities created • Londonderry Township: developed customized toolbox Impact • Comprehensive monitoring plan – 13 stations (2 USGS gage stations) – Water chemistry bimonthy – Macros every 3 years – Fish every 3 years Impact • Two USGS gage stations Impact • Visual assessments: “F.I.S.H.” Impact Impact • Visual assessments: Hershey Meadows Impact HM Fish Sampling Macroinvertebrate Sampling (IBI Scores) Visit us on the web at: www.conewagoinitiative.net Watch A Conewago Story at: www.conewagoinitiative.net Funding for the Conewago Creek Initiative provided by: National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, Foundation for Pennsylvania Watersheds, and our many Initiative partners .
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  • RESTORATION PLAN Conewago Creek
    Conewago Creek Dauphin, Lancaster and Lebanon Counties Pennsylvania May 2006 Tri-County Conewago Creek Association P.O. Box 107 Elizabethtown, PA 17022 [email protected] UTH www.conewagocreek.netU RESTORATION PLAN Prepared by: RETTEW Associates, Inc. 3020 Columbia Ave. Lancaster, PA 17603 3 ____________________________________________________ ConewagoU Creek Restoration Plan May 2006 ____________________________________________________ This plan was developed for use by the Tri-County Conewago Creek Association. “A nonprofit volunteer organization committed to monitoring, preserving, enhancing and promoting the Conewago Creek Watershed through education, community involvement and watershed improvement projects.” This plan was developed with technical and financial support of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and the United States Environmental Protection Agency through the section 319 program under the federal Clean Water Act. This plan was prepared by RETTEW Associates, Inc. 4 TABLEU OF CONTENTS PageU I. Introduction ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3 II. Background ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4 III. Data Collection ---------------------------------------------------------------- 10 IV. Modeling ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 13 V. Results ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 14 VI. Restoration Recommendations ----------------------------------------------
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  • Conewago Creek Watershed York and Adams Counties
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  • Conewago Creek Watershed Implementation Plan Update
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  • Wild Trout Waters (Natural Reproduction) - September 2021
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  • Appendix – Priority Brook Trout Subwatersheds Within the Chesapeake Bay Watershed
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  • Final Report
    TABLE OF CONTENTS 1.0 INTRODUCTION AND PURPOSE ................................................................................. 1 2.0 BACKGROUND INFORMATION ................................................................................... 2 3.0 DESCRIPTION OF WATERSHED .................................................................................. 3 3.1 Relationship Between Recharge and Geologic Setting .......................................... 3 4.0 APPLICATION OF USGS HYDROGEOLOGIC MODEL .............................................. 5 4.1 Discussion of Hydrogeologic Units ....................................................................... 5 4.2 Calculation of Recharge ......................................................................................... 8 5.0 COMPARISON OF CALCULATED BASE FLOW WITH STREAM FLOW DATA ... 9 5.1 Comparison with Longer-Term Stream Gage Records .......................................... 9 5.2 Comparison with More Recent Stream Gage Records ........................................ 10 5.3 Comparison with StreamStats .............................................................................. 11 6.0 IMPERVIOUS COVER ................................................................................................... 12 7.0 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS .......................................................... 15 7.1 Summary and Conclusions ................................................................................... 15 7.2 Recommendations ...............................................................................................
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  • Lancaster County Incremental Deliveredhammer a Creekgricultural Lititz Run Lancasterload of Nitro Gcountyen Per HUC12 Middle Creek
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  • Historic Conewago Valley Tour Sign #15 - (15.0 Miles) and a Red Pennsylvania Bank Barn on Your Right
    HISTORIC CONEWAGO Conewago Valley Tour Sign #10 - (10.8 miles) VALLEY TOUR Fleshman Mill Road and Bon-Ox Road After the stop sign, continue on Fleshman Mill Road through another Dear Visitor, working Adams County farm. This road has several sharp curves. At the next stop sign bear left. The road takes a sharp turn to the right, passes a We invite you to explore Adams County along the HISTORIC stone barn on the left and crosses the south branch of the Conewago Creek. CONEWAGO VALLEY TOUR, where you will discover historic sites, scenic beauty and hidden gems. Meander along Conewago Valley Tour Sign #11 - (11.5 miles) our country roads through East Cavalry Battlefield, Victorian Fleshman Mill Road and Kohler Mill Road New Oxford and Early-American East Berlin. Be sure to Just after crossing this Conewago Creek bridge, turn left onto Kohler slow down and enjoy the drive, all turns and directionals are Mill Road. The road follows the path of the creek to a large horse farm clearly marked by tour signs. where horses for harness-racing are trained on the racetrack on your left, This tour was planned for your pleasure, so relax and and then continues through a residential section of New Oxford. Continue drive carefully. We hope you discover the timeless beauty that to the intersection of Kohler Mill Road and Lincolnway West (US Rt 30) make Adams County so delightful. at the stop sign. US Rt 30 is very heavily traveled. Conewago Valley Tour Sign #12 - (12.6 miles) - Destination Gettysburg Kohler Mill Road and Lincolnway West (US Rt 30) Turn right onto Lincolnway West and you will be heading for the Here are your directions to the start of the center of New Oxford, known as “The Little Town with the Beautiful Conewago Valley Tour from Lincoln Square in Circle”.
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  • Conewago Creek)
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  • Invasive Species 8 Riparian Forest Buffers 12 Trout Unlimited’S Technical Assistance Program 14 V
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  • HISTORY the First Counties in Pennsylvania Were Established in 1681 Under a Charter Granted to William Penn by Charles II, King of England
    HISTORY The first counties in Pennsylvania were established in 1681 under a charter granted to William Penn by Charles II, King of England. Settlement occurred mainly east of the Susquehanna River until the conclusion of the Indian Treaty of 1736, when the limits of Lancaster County were extended indefinitely westward. These fertile lands were soon occupied by immigrants from England, Ireland, Scotland, and Germany. BOUNDARY FORMATION It was under the authority of the Lancaster County Court that Dover Township was formed in 1743. It was formed out of old Manchester Township which was so large that it even extended into Adams County. The township's name, Dover, was apparently selected because of some Englishman's nostalgia for his earlier home in England. The shape of Dover Township is irregular with its southwestern boundary resting upon what is now Jackson and Paradise Townships. To the west lie Warrington and Washington Townships, while to the east lie West Manchester, Manchester, and Conewago Townships. Its original boundaries were not well-defined, but they included part of what is today Washington and Conewago Townships, and Dover Borough. In 1770, that area which stretches from the top of the Conewago Hills to the Big Conewago Creek, was added to Dover Township from Warrington Township. The Big Conewago Creek forms its present western boundary line. Then, in 1818, Dover residents east of the Bull Road petitioned the York County Courts to form a new township known as Conewago Township. About two-thirds of this new township came from Dover Township and one-third from Newberry Township.
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