April 16, 1999
Tribune-Review
Specialists to watch over watersheds
By Jerry Storey
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection is looking at the big picture by funding watershed coordinators at county conservation districts.
Every stream, no matter how modest its size, has its own watershed.
A number of greater watersheds build in the region as the flow continues to the Mississippi River and eventually to the Gulf of Mexico.
Gary Stokum, executive director of the Washington County Conservation District, explained that the area's watersheds are part of the Ohio River Basin.
The Fayette, Westmoreland, Washington and Greene county conservation districts are among those across the state that have received an environmental stewardship and watershed protection grant from the DEP's Growing Greener program to fund a professional to watch over the watersheds.
Stokum said the emphasis on watersheds is a trend for both state and federal environmental initiatives. It is also bursting out at the grass roots level.
The effort to protect watersheds is "bottom up" rather than "top down," Stokum insisted.
Numerous groups have formed in the region to protect and clean up local watersheds.
Stokum pointed out there are about 15 major watersheds "and a whole lot of little ones" in Washington County. Some examples in the Mon Valley include the Pigeon Creek, Pike Run and Peters Creek watersheds.
There are enough groups working on behalf of various watersheds in Washington County that a countywide watershed alliance has been formed, which includes the conservation district and the Pennsylvania Cooperative Extension Service among its members.
Stokum also noted that new watershed groups continue to form, including one for Ten Mile Creek, which flows through both Washington and Greene counties.
After years of industrial pollution and acid mine runoff, as well as sewage and animal waste dumping, many of the region's watersheds can use all the help available.
Doug Petro, director of the Fayette County Conservation District, pointed out 300 miles of waterways tainted by mine drainage has been identified in Fayette County thus far.
Individual watershed associations have worked hard, both at educating the public and in cleaning up the waterways. One example is the Mountain Watershed Association based in Melcroft.
Founded six years ago, the association is doing a passive treatment remediation along Route 711, using wetlands to cleanse runoff from an abandoned mine naturally.
The association is also working with the federal Natural Resource Conservation Service on a study of Indian Creek.
Beverly Braverman, the executive director of the association, lauded the hiring of a county watershed coordinator.
"The more people who become aware of problem the less the load (for the associations)," Braverman said.
Petro praised the associations and emphasized that the county watershed coordinator would complement their work. He said the new specialist will provide "technical assistance to any group or individual wanting to protect or enhance a watershed."
He also said state environmental officials want coordination of watershed efforts for the new Growing Greener initiative.
The idea is "to make sure everyone's working to the same goals, not on a piecemeal fashion," he said.
The Growing Greener program is described by the DEP as "a dramatic restructuring of state spending policy to address the critical environmental concerns of the 21st century." Nearly $650 million over the next five years will be available through the state program.
In addition to the Mountain Watershed Association, a number of other watershed groups are active in Fayette County, including the Jacobs Creek Watershed Association, the Youghiogheny River Council and Trout Unlimited.
The newest grassroots effort to join the fold is the Redstone Clearwater Initiative, which is working to enhance the watersheds of Redstone Creek, Little Redstone Creek, Dunlap Creek and Downers Run.
