Stroud Water Research Center is excited to share great news about our work to protect clean water as part of the Delaware River Watershed Initiative (DRWI). We are proud to be working with friends across the region to protect forests and farms, clean up streams, and green communities. You can learn more about this collaborative project at 4states1source.org.
Funding News
The William Penn Foundation announced more than $40 million in new funding for the DRWI, which is among the country’s largest non-regulatory conservation efforts to protect and restore clean water. The DRWI is a first-of-its-kind collaboration, where the Stroud Center is one of 65 organizations working together to protect and restore the Delaware River and its tributaries, which provide drinking water for 15 million people in Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, and Delaware.
Addressing Threats
The DRWI is tackling widespread pollution problems that threaten clean drinking water and the health of rivers and streams. They include erosion and runoff from deforested acres in headwaters, polluted runoff from agricultural fields, flooding and polluted stormwater from cities and suburbs, and a depleted aquifer in southern New Jersey.
Delivering Results
In 2014, the DRWI launched a new approach, joining local and regional groups to accelerate conservation efforts. Today, the DRWI stands out as a basin-scale program driven by nonprofits like the Stroud Center, and guided by science. In just over three years, DRWI partners have:
- protected 19,604 acres,
- restored 8,331 acres, and
- monitored and sampled water quality at more than 500 sites across four states.
With knowledge gleaned from the past four years, this additional $40 million, three-year investment builds on initial successes to protect and restore an estimated 43,484 additional acres and continue its scientific approach to securing clean, abundant water in the basin.
Follow the DRWI on Social Media
You can follow the progress of the Stroud Center and our partners in the DRWI by searching #4states1source on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram!
