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Watershed Restoration Projects

Projects are listed in reverse chronological order.

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

In targeted portions of the Chesapeake Bay watershed in Lancaster and Chester counties, Pa., the project implements whole-farm systems of best management practices on about two dozen farms, restores about ...

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

This project implements agricultural best management practices and forested buffers on farms, which includes stormwater-runoff controls for barnyards and mushroom compost processing areas, new and seasonally earlier cover crops, improved ...

Support for a Coalition on Soil Health in Pennsylvania

This project establishes the Pennsylvania Soil Health Coalition to improve communication and coordination among numerous organizations involved with soil health education, implementation, and research. Coalition member organizations will conduct educational ...

Stroud Center/Pa. 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 planting. The buffers are part of whole-farm work on a ...

Stroud Center/Pa. 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 salable horticultural materials. Funded by: Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and ...

Stroud Center–Alliance for Chesapeake Bay Partnership

This project supports installation and care of about 25 acres of forested buffers after they are planted in the west branch of Red Clay Creek. Funded by: Alliance for the ...

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, including nine miles of forested buffers and nearly 21,000 acres ...

Promoting Soil Health and Riparian Buffers to Support Aquatic Diversity in Northwest Pennsylvania

This project restores stream health by addressing excessive sedimentation in the French Creek and Shenango River waterways that threatens freshwater species. Project creates a multi-county no-till drill rental program to ...

Outreach and Installation of Agricultural Best Management Practices in Brandywine-Christina

This project installs conservation practices on farms to improve watershed health. It provides outreach, technical assistance, and financial assistance to farmers to plan and implement whole-farm conservation. Funded by: National ...

Meeting Lancaster County’s Clean Water Goals through Riparian Forest Buffers

The project increases capacity for and accelerates the rate of installing state-of-the-art forested buffers towards locally led clean water plans for Lancaster and Chester County. The project will result in ...

Improving Success and Cutting Costs on Riparian Buffers

Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s Keystone 10 Million Trees Partnership contracts with the Stroud Center to test tree planting and maintenance-related materials. The goal is to demonstrate methods that maintain high levels ...

“Healthy Soils, Healthy Streams” Training, and Technical Assistance

This project will conduct trainings on soil health and stream health for nearly 6,000 farmers, conservation professionals, and others. Pennsylvania No-Till Alliance will offer technical assistance on cover crops and ...

Forested Buffers for Farms in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed

This project provides funding for five farms in Lancaster and Chester counties in Pennsylvania to install forested buffers and any needed infrastructure to protect streams from livestock. Funded by: Pa ...

Forest Buffer Tree Seedling Care Initiative

This project includes site visits to check the status of recently planted buffers, replanting of any mortality, and providing feedback to landowners on status and success of their buffer plantings ...

Comprehensive Nutrient Management Planning for Lancaster County Farms

This project will accelerate implementation of agricultural water quality improvements in Lancaster County through development and implementation of comprehensive nutrient management plans. Project will result in more than 1,100 acres ...

Collaboration With Pa. DCNR for Riparian Forest Buffers

This project installs riparian forested buffers for water quality and stream health improvements. Locations include but are not limited to target areas in Chester and Lancaster Counties. Funded by: Pennsylvania ...

Ag BMPs and Forested Buffers for Red Clay Creek

This project implements best management practices on three equine operations to improve water quality and stream health of the West Branch of Red Clay Creek. Funded by: Pennsylvania Department of ...

Agricultural Best Management Practices and Forested Buffers in Brandywine-Christina Focus Areas

Farmers receive assistance to plan and implement at least 80 agricultural best management practices on the condition that they also install forested buffers on their streams. Funded by: National Fish ...

Agricultural Best Management Practices and Buffers for Middle Schuylkill Focus Area

Farmers receive assistance to plan and implement at least 80 agricultural best management practices (BMPs) on the condition that they also install forested buffers on their streams. Funded by: National ...

Agricultural Best Management Practices and Forested Buffers for Lancaster Focus Areas

This project implements whole-farm conservation on all four farms in the catchment of a very small unnamed tributary to Pequea Creek in Lancaster County, Pa. The farmers are undertaking comprehensive ...

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

This project implements agricultural conservation practices on three Plain sect farms in the Honey Brook, Pa., area. Funded by: Pa. Department of Environmental Protection Project Lead: Matthew J. Ehrhart Collaborators: ...

Evaluating the Risk for PFAS Contamination of Surface and Groundwater Through Application of Biosolids in Agroecosystems

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) are a group of thousands of chemicals that are used in a wide range of industrial applications and represent a risk to human health. They ...

Evaluating How Conventional, Conservation, and Organic Farming Management Practices Enhance Soil Health and Improve Water Quality

This project investigates how different agricultural management practices influence water quality and soil health. Using Rodale Institute’s 37-year-old Farming Systems Trial and a recent transition to organic farming at the ...

DRWI Phase II+ Monitoring, Evaluation, and Scientific Support for Protecting and Restoring Places of Ecological Significance (Brandywine-Christina, Middle Schuylkill, Schuylkill Highlands Clusters) as Part of the Delaware River Watershed Initiative

This funding supports the Stroud Center’s research and restoration teams to participate in the Delaware River Watershed Initiative’s focus areas within the Brandywine-Christina, Middle Schuylkill, and Schuylkill Highlands watersheds where ...

DRWI Phase II+ Monitoring, Evaluation, Scientific Support, and Capacity Building for Watershed Protection and Restoration Projects

This project, part of the Delaware River Watershed Initiative, provides technical background and assistance to grantees of the William Penn Foundation and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to develop, ...

Delaware River Watershed Initiative — Phase II Monitoring, Evaluation, Scientific Support, and Capacity Building for Watershed Protection and Restoration Projects

This project collects and interprets data on macroinvertebrate specimens from stream sites to provide a baseline for the evaluation of goals defined for restoration and protection projects funded by the ...

Delaware River Watershed Initiative — Phase II Monitoring, Evaluation, and Scientific Support for Protecting and Restoring Places of Ecological Significance (Brandywine-Christina, Middle Schuylkill, Schuylkill Highlands Clusters)

Professional and volunteer monitoring of chemistry, macroinvertebrates, and fish to support restoration and protection efforts represent an invaluable (and often neglected) tool to evaluate short- and long-term progress toward conservation ...

Delaware River Watershed Initiative Circuit Rider for Technical Assistance to Grantees

This project provides technical assistance to grantees of the William Penn Foundation and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to develop and implement watershed restoration efforts and grants to monitor the impact of projects implemented in the Delaware River Watershed Initiative clusters ...

Delaware River Watershed Initiative Community Science Phase II

This project engages watershed residents to be active participants in efforts to document conditions across the focus areas of the Delaware River Watershed Initiative. Work includes efforts to support monitoring, ...

Delaware River Watershed Initiative Phase II Work in Focus Areas

This funding supports the Stroud Center’s Robin L. Vannote Watershed Restoration Program to participate in the Delaware River Watershed Initiative’s focus areas within the Brandywine-Christina, Middle Schuylkill, and Schuylkill Highlands ...

Delaware River Watershed Initiative Rodale/Stroud Water Research Center Collaboration

This project enables a collaboration with Rodale Institute to advance knowledge on soil health and impacts on water quality, including a comparison of till, no-till, and organic-based cropping systems. Related ...

Modeling Land Protection Impact Assessment for the Open Space Institute

This project uses Model My Watershed to communicate the value of forest protection by estimating its impact on water quality. Funded by: Open Space Institute and William Penn Foundation Project ...

Partnering for Accelerated Agricultural Best Management Practices in South Central Pennsylvania

This project supports the Stroud Center’s continuing efforts on soil health, particularly for outreach and education on cover crops and no-till farming. It also installs conservation practices on farms to ...

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 innovative methods to advance cover crop and no-till techniques, and ...

Partnering for Accelerated Ag Best Management Practices in South Central Pennsylvania

This project supports Stroud Water Research Center’s continuing efforts on soil health, particularly for outreach and education on cover crops and no-till farming. It also installs conservation practices on farms ...

Experimental Streamside Forest Restoration to Improve Water Quality – Fat Chance Farm

This project planted 675 trees and shelters on 2.01 acres of riparian land along an unnamed tributary of Doe Run in West Marlborough Township, Pa. The project was designed to ...

Ag BMP Planning and Implementation for Berks County (DEP); Leveraging Ag BMPs and Forested Buffers for Middle Schuylkill Cluster (NFWF); Delivering the Berks-Chester RCPP (DEP)

This project operates the Farm Stewardship Program in Berks County, assisting farmers to implement whole-farm conservation while leveraging U.S. Department of Agriculture funding for work including forested buffers. Work on ...

Transforming Water Quality in the Sharitz Run Headwaters of Brandywine Creek

This Watershed Renaissance Initiative grant will enable Stroud Water Research Center to implement extensive watershed restoration projects designed to capture and control excess water and sediment production from agricultural hillslopes ...

Restoring Flood Attenuation and Ecological Resiliency in the Mid-Atlantic Piedmont

For this project, scientists and watershed restoration professionals restore one headwater basin to reduce flooding downstream, improve water quality, and increase stream-ecosystem resilience so that it will once again support ...

Improving Stream Water Quality and Reducing Runoff by Improving Farm Soil Health Through Permanent Cover Cropping

Scientists are studying how soil structure and soil ecosystem health improve farm fields over a three-year period after shifting from conventional tillage practices to cover cropping. They are also measuring ...

Water-Quality Monitoring at Fair Hill Training Center

Scientists are monitoring fecal indicator bacteria, sediment, and water chemistry from the barns at the Fair Hill Training Center. Based on the data collected, the scientists and restoration team will ...

Transforming Water Quality in the White Clay Creek Headwaters of Christina River Basin

This Watershed Renaissance Initiative grant will enable Stroud Water Research Center to implement extensive watershed restoration projects designed to capture and control excess water and sediment production from agricultural hillslopes ...

Experimental Streamside Forest Restoration to Improve Water Quality – Ranch at Doe Run

This project involved an experimental planting of 900 trees and shelters on 2.75 acres of riparian land along a headwater tributary of the Brandywine Creek in East Fallowfield Township, Pennsylvania ...

Leveraging Farm Bill Funds for Water Quality in the Brandywine-Christina and Middle Schuylkill Clusters (NFWF); Delivering the Berks-Chester RCPP (DEP)

Stroud Water Research Center secured more than $1 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Regional Conservation Partnership Program and is ensuring full delivery of best management practices ...

Delaware River Watershed Initiative

A multiyear project to monitor, protect, and restore critical freshwater sources for 15 million people from New York to the mouth of the Delaware Bay ...

Delaware River Watershed Initiative — Phase I Protecting and Restoring Places of Ecological Significance (Brandywine-Christina and Middle Schuylkill Clusters

Professional and volunteer monitoring of chemistry, macroinvertebrates, and fish to support restoration and protection efforts represent an invaluable (and often neglected) tool to evaluate short- and long-term progress toward conservation ...

Ag BMP Planning and Implementation for Chester County

This project operates the Farm Stewardship Program in Chester County, assisting farmers to implement whole-farm conservation while leveraging U.S. Department of Agriculture funding for work including forested buffers. Funded by: ...

Ag BMP Planning and Implementation for Berks County

This project operates the Farm Stewardship Program in Berks County, assisting farmers to implement whole-farm conservation while leveraging U.S. Department of Agriculture funding for work including forested buffers ...

Leveraging Farm Bill Funds for Water Quality in the Brandywine-Christina and Middle Schuylkill Clusters

This project provides outreach and technical assistance to farmers in Chester and Berks counties to ensure full implementation of funds provided by U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Regional Conservation Partnership Program for constructing ag best management practices ...

Delivering the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation Regional Conservation Partnership Program in Lancaster County, Pa.

This project provides outreach and technical assistance to farmers to ensure full implementation of funds provided by U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Regional Conservation Partnership Program for constructing ag best management practices ...

Whole-Farm Conservation Including Forested Buffers

This project expands the Farm Stewardship Program in Lancaster and Franklin Counties — the top two dairy counties in Pennsylvania. To address water-quality issues, whole-farm conservation with forested buffers is implemented. Farmers who install forested buffers receive incentives that can only be used to pay for other needed best management practices on the farm ...

Comprehensive Agricultural Stewardship in Lancaster County

Stroud Center’s Farm Stewardship Program provides technical and financial assistance to farmers and landowners to implement best management practices (BMPs) to protect water quality and improve stream health ...

Demonstrating Low-Cost Methods for Reforestation

Four sites in New York, Pennsylvania, and Maryland will demonstrate options for improving the cost-effectiveness of reforestation methods, including direct seeding, innovative fencing in lieu of tree shelters, live stakes, improved methods for managing herbivore competition, and more ...

Experimental Streamside Forest Restoration to Improve Water Quality: Buck Run

This project involved an experimental planting of 900 trees and shelters on 2.2 acres of riparian land along Buck Run in East Fallowfield, Pa. The project was designed to test ...

Experimental Streamside Forest Restoration to Improve Water Quality: Buck Run

This project involved an experimental planting of 300 trees and shelters on 0.7 acres of riparian land along Buck Run in East Fallowfield, Pa. The project was designed to test ...

Demonstrating Low-Cost Methods for Reforestation (Farm Stewardship Program)

Stroud Water Research Center’s Farm Stewardship Program provides technical and financial assistance to farmers and landowners to implement best management practices (BMPs) to protect water quality and improve stream health ...

Restoration of Streamside Forest for Improving Water Quality

Planting trees along the stream corridors is a best management practice for keeping pollutants out of streams and improving their health. 2013: In collaboration with the Brandywine Conservancy and Dansko, ...

Streamside Forest Restoration to Improve Water Quality — Brandywine Creek

This project involved planting 400 trees along Craigs Mill Run (1.8 acres) and 600 trees along the East Branch of Brandywine Creek (1.8 acres) in Pennsbury and East Brandywine townships, respectively, as a best management practice for keeping pollutants out of local streams and improving their health ...

Streamside Forest Restoration to Improve Water Quality — Red Clay Creek

This project involved an experimental planting of 500 trees on 1.5 acres of riparian land as a best management practice for keeping pollutants out of a headwater tributary of Red Clay Creek as well as creating a research site for testing the effects of herbicide use on the survival and growth of seedlings ...

Streamside Forest Restoration to Improve Water Quality — Crum Creek

This project involved an experimental planting of 925 trees on 4.1 acres of riparian land for keeping pollutants out of two headwater tributaries of Crum Creek and learning new insights into how to properly install the bird netting, associated with protective shelters, placed on all seedlings to increase their survival and growth ...

Nutrient Management Plan Verification and Agricultural Recognition Program

This project will demonstrate the feasibility and implementation of in-field monitoring equipment for manure applications and field-specific water quality impacts of farming practices ...

Stroud Preserve Reforested Riparian Buffer Project

The Stroud Preserve riparian reforestation project is a demonstration of the three-zone Riparian Forest Buffer System developed by the USDA Forest Service ...