Watershed Restoration

Watershed Restoration: A Shared Public and Private Investment

Stroud Water Research Center works hand in hand with landowners, helping them use their land more effectively through whole-farm planning and watershed stewardship. In return for our program services, landowners are asked to install forested buffers on streams on their properties and to allow us ongoing access to their sites to gather the scientific data from these efforts.

Our expert team sets up the collaborations and partnerships necessary to achieve the highest level of freshwater conservation. The Stroud Center and many partner groups and agencies have secured over $20 million dollars through USDA’s Resource Conservation Partnership Program to support agriculture conservation and restoration projects on farms in the Delaware and Chesapeake Bay watersheds.

The Robin L. Vannote Watershed Restoration Program is named for Robin Vannote, Ph.D., a research scientist and the Stroud Center’s first director. Under Vannote’s leadership, the Stroud Center evolved from a dream to an institution at the forefront of freshwater research. The Stroud Center has benefited enormously from Vannote’s hard work, keen insight, and long-term scientific vision since 1966, and the naming of the Watershed Restoration Program is a fitting tribute.

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Watershed Restoration Staff

Watershed Restoration News

Website Helps Landowners Lease Farms Wisely to Promote Soil Health, Water Quality

LandownerHelp.com is a free resource helping landowners grow better relationships with tenant farmers that incentivize long-term investments on land that also address broader environmental impacts.

Landowners Partner With Stroud Center on Stream Restoration Across Watershed

Something wonderful is happening on the west branch of Red Clay Creek. It is getting its trees back — and perhaps its native brook trout, too.

Earth Week Volunteers Give Streamside Forest a Helping Hand

Stroud Water Research Center wrapped up Earth Week by revisiting two streamside tree plantings for spring maintenance.

Taking Stock of Big Picture, Strategic Priorities for Watershed Restoration

With scarce public resources to accomplish so many restoration outcomes across the Commonwealth, it’s imperative to maximize our effectiveness.

David Wise Receives DCNR Watershed Forestry Leadership Award

Wise connects the dots between partners, funders, and landowners to increase the implementation of best practices in land management.

Restoring and Protecting Water Quality and Mitigating Flooding in Rural Landscapes

Executive Director Dave Arscott, Ph.D., shared how Stroud Water Research Center is working to mitigate threats to water quality.

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Watershed Restoration Projects

Targeted Agricultural Best Management Practices and Forested Buffers for Chester County Focus Areas

This project implements agricultural best management practices (BMPs) and forested buffers on farms, which includes stormwater-runoff controls for barnyards and Read more

Targeted Agricultural Best Management Practices and Forested Buffers

In targeted portions of the Chesapeake Bay watershed in Lancaster and Chester counties, Pa., the project implements whole-farm systems of Read more

Stroud Water Research Center/Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Forested Buffer Partnership

This project restores 30 acres of forested buffer in the west branch of Red Clay Creek and includes care after Read more

Stroud Water Research Center/Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Buffer Collaborative

This project installs nearly 80 acres of forested buffers and demonstrates the income potential from buffers for fruits, nuts, and Read more

South Central Pennsylvania Conservation Partnerships

This project helps about two dozen farms in Lancaster and Chester counties to install nearly 200 agricultural best management practices, Read more

Soil Health and Stream Health for Red and White Clay Creeks

This project engages two farmers to implement more than 1,000 acres of cover crops, conduct trials of eight or more Read more

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