Lebanon County is expanding its partnership with a local clean water organization to further promote countywide clean water initiatives.
Lebanon County’s website is hosting a link to the Lebanon County Clean Water Alliance’s story map, which currently has 14 water quality initiatives that highlight local efforts to conserve, protect and enhance water resources of Lebanon County, which is the mission of the alliance.
A link titled “Countywide Clean Water Initiatives” that connects to LCCWA’s website can be found by scrolling to the bottom of the county’s homepage.
Julie Cheyney, director of the Lebanon County Planning Department, and Cherie Prentice-Brown, GIS manager for Lebanon County, pitched the idea of the county hosting LCCWA’s digital storyboard to further strengthen and grow a partnership that was launched in 2011. The storyboard was populated by the county’s GIS department employees.
The two department leaders requested and received unanimous permission from County Commissioners to include the link on the county website at a workshop session on Wednesday, June 19. That link went live Thursday.
Cheyney told commissioners LCCWA was formed in January 2011 to address Chesapeake Bay and clean water initiatives.
The LCCWA consists of Lebanon County as well as Annville, Cornwall, Cleona, Jonestown, and Palmyra boroughs, North Cornwall, North Lebanon, North Londonderry, South Annville, South Lebanon, West Cornwall and South Londonderry townships, and Lebanon city. The Lebanon County Conservation District and Quittapahilla Watershed Association are participating partners.
“Our focal point is really on education, so we’re trying to educate residents in the community in relation to what are some things you can do to help the environment, help clean water,” said Cheyney. “We’re kind of tired of putting out the same information. We’ve done pamphlets, we’ve done advertising, and we kind of got to the point where we’re just regurgitating the same information.”
Cheyney said Prentice-Brown pitched the idea of creating a story map to share stories about local efforts to improve water quality here. It was a proposal that Cheyney thought was “fantastic.”
“One of the things I really like about this is we can change out information, we can keep it up to date and obviously with (digital) technology, I mean this is what people use now. I believe an electronic version, in general, is where people go to (get information),” she added.
It was noted there are numerous organizations working on water projects and there should be a place for those stories to be told. The advent of the storyboard addresses that issue.
“This is something that we’ve been working on for years and I thought this would be a great way to house all of the efforts that are happening in Lebanon County, and not just what the clean water alliance is doing,” said Cheyney. “But also what the ‘Quittie’ (Quittapahilla) Watershed is doing, what the conservation district is doing. Since it is countywide, what better place than to house it on our website.”
She provided commissioners a preview of content already on the site and later encouraged groups to reach out to county officials to share their information concerning water-quality initiatives so those stories can be told, too.
The storyboard’s map shows that Lebanon County is one of 206 counties that drain into the Chesapeake. In April 2010, the Environmental Protection Agency charged 79 municipalities with violating the Clean Water Act, including 10 in Lebanon County. LCCWA was born in 2011 to address those EPA concerns.
Cheyney said that of the 558 stream miles in Lebanon County, 363 miles, or 65 percent, are impaired. (That figure is 34 percent statewide.)
The storyboard states “impaired” means they aren’t “reaching standards set for aquatic life, recreation, fish consumption or potable water supply uses,” and notes that the impairments here are “largely due to agriculture.”
Cheyney said as groups focus their attention on improving the water quality locally, the storyboard will be available to share that information about their good works and note how sediment loads are being reduced.
“Again, all of these initiatives that all of these groups are doing, we hope to make an impact on the waterways that are impaired,” she added.
Cheyney showed the 14 projects that have been posted and said each contains a short project description that also highlights progress and project results, including sediment load reductions.
“You have a little bit of information related to what those projects are and the crux of these projects concerning the load reduction for those projects, which are key and what DEP is looking for,” she said. “What we’re taking out or what is not ending up in our watershed is the whole purpose of these projects, ensuring that we’re not allowing these pollutants to get into our waterways.”
Cheyney noted that some of the projects on the storyboard are municipal- and business-based, including one initiative that was launched to address horrendous flooding throughout Lebanon County that occurred in 2011.
During the presentation, Cheyney discussed the 14 initiatives and Prentice-Brown highlighted the tree calculator, which shows how much a planted tree can save on sediment erosion annually and other data connected to tree-planting efforts in the Lebanon Valley.
Prentice-Brown also noted that there’s a link to the state Department of Environmental Protection’s Integrated Report Viewer to view water quality standards throughout Pennsylvania.
Any groups who want to share their water-quality project stories and information on the website should contact Cheyney at julie.cheyney@lebanoncountypa.gov.
“We have partnered with a lot (of groups), but I am looking to partner with a lot more,” she said. “There are more organizations and projects out there. And there’s a lot more we can do and get the information out there. As we get the information out there, we can certainly create more partnerships throughout the county.”
LebTown asked Cheyney following her presentation if she knows how many groups are currently conducting undocumented projects.
“That’s a good question, I don’t,” answered Cheyney. “I’m hoping if we’re successful and get this on the website, that then maybe people will start to reach out. We tried to coordinate with groups that we know that are out there, but I know there are probably a lot more I am not familiar with.”
Local residents can also do their part to improve water quality in Lebanon County.
Cheyney encourages Lebanon countians to learn what they can do to improve water quality and the watershed by visiting the website. It contains a list of nine pointers for county residents to help keep their watershed clean and healthy.
“Those nine pointers tell you what you can do in your own backyard to help clean water initiatives,” added Cheyney.
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