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

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.

Stream Degradation and Restoration With Aquatic Insects as Our Guide

This webinar aimed to help agricultural conservation and ecosystem restoration practitioners reorient efforts toward watershed-scale approaches to achieve local restoration goals.

Tour Our Riparian Buffer Mini-Arboretum

In the interest of testing new plants that could further enhance riparian areas, we've planted a mini-arboretum along the banks of White Clay Creek in our experimental watershed.

Cover Crop Coaching Webinar Recordings Available

Watch recordings of this unique webinar series about how to work with your farmers for cover crop success.

Expanding Watershed Restoration Beyond the Stream Corridor

Healthy streams need healthy watersheds. Improving soil health in farm fields can be a very cost-effective way to reach water-quality goals.

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Watershed Restoration Projects

Modeling Land Protection Impact Assessment for the Open Space Institute

This project uses Model My Watershed to estimate water quality benefits of forest land protection. The overall objectives of this Read more

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

This project includes two separate awards of funds from DCNR. The combined efforts will install nearly 80 acres of forested Read more

South Central Pennsylvania Conservation Partnerships

This project will assist roughly 24 farms in Lancaster and Chester County to install nearly 200 agricultural best management practices, Read more

Soil Health and Stream Health for Red and White Clay Creeks

This project will engage two local farmers who are thought-leaders to implement more than 1,000 acres of cover crops, conduct Read more

Partnering for Accelerated Ag Best Management Practices in South Central Pennsylvania

This project will support Stroud Water Research Center’s continuing efforts on soil health, particularly for outreach and education on cover Read more

Delaware River Watershed Initiative Rodale/Stroud Water Research Center Collaboration

This project will enable a collaboration with Rodale Institute to advance knowledge on soil health and impacts on water quality, Read more

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