Where Does York County Need to Reduce Nutrients and Sediment?

PA DEP’s Integrated Water Quality Monitoring and Assessment Report lists the polluted streams and the reasons for the pollution. Additionally, the Report identifies waters that have a developed total maximum daily load (TMDL) and waters that require a TMDL, including a target date for the development of the required TMDL. For this section of the York County WIP, the Integrated Water Quality Monitoring and Assessment Report is used to identify York County impaired waters, the pollutants that caused the impairments, and the source of the impairments. Likewise, the Report can be used to identify York County waters that need reductions in nutrients (nitrogen/phosphorus) and/or sediment to improve water quality.

The 2011 York County Integrated Water Resources Plan (IWRP) included information on all York County impaired waters from the PA DEP’s Water Quality Monitoring and Assessment Report. This Plan, however, focuses on the waters impaired by nutrients and/or sediment (see Map 1 and Appendix B). Map 1 also shows the York County large watersheds and municipal boundaries, in order to put the impaired waters in perspective. Map 2 shows the impaired sub-watersheds within each of the larger watersheds, which further demonstrates the extent of nutrient/sediment impairment in the County.

According to the 2012 Report, the impairment of 28% of the waters shown is due solely to an agricultural source and the cause in each case is siltation. Approximately 50% of the waters are impaired due to another source or sources in combination with agriculture, with urban runoff/storm sewers being the most prevalent. It is also interesting to note that siltation is a contributing cause of the impairment in 93% of the waters and it is the sole cause in 53% of the waters.

A listing of York County waters that are impaired to some extent due to nutrients and/or sediment can be found in Appendix B. Also included are the impaired use, source and specific cause for each water body listed.

It is essential to remember that US EPA’s, and therefore PA DEP’s, watershed restoration priorities are developed and implemented as a result of the Integrated Water Quality Monitoring and Assessment Report. Thus, this Report should be used as a tool to identify priority locations for watershed restoration projects in York County.

York County's Pollution Diet

How much pollution needs to be cleaned up by York County? The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PA DEP) has distributed pollutant reduction targets to each county in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed, including York County. Along with pollutant reduction numbers, a scenario by which York County could achieve these reductions through the establishment/construction of identified Best Management Practices (BMPs) was provided. Based on input from several local stakeholders with expertise in implementing agricultural, urban and other BMPs, the scenario provided with the Draft Targets would be difficult for the County to achieve. Thus, this Watershed Implementation Plan will establish another scenario that the York County Coalition for Clean Waters believes is the most efficient/practicable for York County to implement.

York County’s 2025 total maximum daily load pollution reduction targets are 3,860,342 pounds of Total Nitrogen, 56,408 pounds of Total Phosphorous, and 83,717,179 pounds of Total Sediment. Pollution load and reduction targets are displayed graphically in the WIP. For Nitrogen and Sediment, this number is about a 39% reduction from 2009; while, for Phosphorus, it’s about a 30% reduction. For the full York County draft planning targets as generated by PA DEP, see Appendix A.

York County Watershed Implementation Plan – Background

York County is located on the west side of the Susquehanna River, which supplies roughly 50 percent of the water to the Chesapeake Bay. The Chesapeake Bay water quality has degraded to a poor condition and, despite extensive restoration efforts (since 1985), the poor water quality has continued. This necessitated the U.S> Environmental Protection Agency to establish a “pollution diet” for the Bay, or total maximum daily loads (TMDL) of nutrients, sediment and toxic pollutants.

Pennsylvania has developed a Chesapeake Bay Watershed Implementation Plan (WIP), which sets forth a strategy for the Commonwealth to achieve the required pollutant reductions mandate by the Bay TMDL

The Chesapeake Bay TMDL is unique for Pennsylvania in the sense that the legal requirement for pollution reductions falls upon the state, while land use authority, which enables the practices and the construction of structures to reduce pollution, is delegated to local municipalities.

Pennsylvania has taken its total pollution reduction requirement and divided it among the counties in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed and identified draft county reduction targets for nutrients, sediment and toxic pollutants.

The USEPA has made it clear in the TMDL, and Pennsylvania has acknowledged this in its WIP,

that there will be consequences should Pennsylvania not make significant progress towards

achieving its required reductions.

All the background information along with explanations of all existing requirements and

programs, referred to above, are included in the Chesapeake Bay TMDL and the Pennsylvania

WIP. The main objective of the York County Watershed Implementation Plan is to convey four

(4) key points:

1.      The Chesapeake Bay is polluted with nutrients and sediment;

2.      The Federal Government (USEPA) has told Pennsylvania that it needs to reduce pollution by a specified amount and timeframe;

3.      Pennsylvania has developed a Plan documenting how the state will meet its mandate, which includes voluntary actions by local entities, ensuring compliance with existing regulations, and increasing monitoring and reporting of pollution reduction efforts; and

4.      If the required pollutant reductions are not met as measured every two (2) years, the USEPA will take action to ensure the reductions happen. These actions may include increased permitting and withholding of federal funding under EPA’s authority.

York County's Chesapeake Bay Pollutant Reduction Initiative

Efforts currently under way include compiling a list of potential stormwater management projects for consideration by the York County Coalition for Clean Waters and creating a financial formula for municipal cost sharing in a county-wide funding pool.

The Center for Watershed Protection’s Bryan Seipp is assisting the York County Planning Commission with compiling a list of potential projects from the participating MS4 communities (34). Projects are being proposed by the local MS4 communities based upon the recommended best management practices providing the greatest pollutant reduction for each dollar invested.

Once completed, then the Coalition for Clean Waters will convene to review the list, set priorities for implementation, and select one or more demonstration projects. MS4 communities will be able to include the list of projects in their Chesapeake Bay Pollutant Reduction Plan required by their state MS4 permit.

At this point, participating MS4 communities will be asked to opt-in or opt-out of the Coalition. Those Communities opting in to the Coalition will be asked to contribute financially based upon finance formula under development. The purpose of the financial commitment is collective cost sharing and county-wide pollutant reduction benefits and credits.

The Coalition believes working together for clean water is engaging, fair and will produce the reasonable assurances of progress towards Chesapeake Bay pollutant reductions needed in York County to help Pennsylvania meet its Watershed Implementation Plan goals by 2025.

Working Together for Clean Water

Awareness of the importance of clean water to streams and rivers, and their connection to the larger Chesapeake Bay ecosystem, is growing in York County, Pennsylvania.

Momentum is gaining interest and support not with just a few individuals, but collectively as a county.

Presented with an challenge—the Chesapeake Bay TMDL—York County’s Conservation District and Planning Commission took on the roles of educator, facilitator, and change agent.

The Planning Commission took the lead forming a County-wide TMDL Work Group to develop a countywide pollution reduction strategy to help Pennsylvania meet it’s Bay Agreement goals. Known as a Watershed Implementation Plan (WIP), the plan identifies the most cost effective nutrient and sediment pollution reduction practices to achieve clean water goals and restore streams.

The next step to getting the job done is where the rubber hits the road—implementation.

One very important pollution source that is continuing to increase, even with reductions from wastewater treatment and agricultural pollution sources, is polluted urban and suburban stormwater runoff.

For township managers, it can be difficult to maintain and update the infrastructure needed to transport polluted runoff—things like storm drains, pipes, ditches, and retention ponds.

York County has developed a collaborative plan to reduce pollution, restore streams, and save everyone money. The plan calls for the implementation of actions in four key areas:

·        --- Capture unreported projects from local, state and federal cost share programs;

·         --- Existing program administration (e.g., agricultural conservation planning, land use planning, stormwater management, etc.);

·         --- New nonstructural Best Management Practices applied on the ground to capture and treat urban, suburban and rural stormwater runoff and stream restoration; and

·         ---- BMPs not in current Bay Model (i.e., The York Water Company’s Sediment Filtration Plan).

A stakeholders group “Coalition for Clean Waters” has been formed—consisting of local business, government, nonprofit groups, and other individuals—to help educate the public about York County’s WIP and encourage implementation of the recommended Best Management Practices by landowners and local officials.

The Chesapeake Bay Foundation is lending a hand to York County and its 72 local municipalities through both private funding and through a generous grant from the William Penn Foundation, by providing technical assistance for locally lead water quality improvement efforts. The CBF will be hosting a series of workshops designed to assist local officials. The workshops will begin in January 2014.

For more information about local workshops or to see what else is happening in York County, visit www.cbf.org/Pennsylvania and www.ycpc.org.

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