Countywide Action Plan

Pennsylvania and neighboring states are working at local levels to clean up our state’s waterways that flow into the Chesapeake Bay. In 2019, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection submitted the Phase III Watershed Implementation Plan (WIP), which set forth tangible nutrient reduction goals based on locally-led initiatives to reduce water pollution, improve quality of life, address flooding problems, and obtain credit for previously installed best management practices.  Within the Phase III WIP, all 43 Pennsylvanian counties within the Chesapeake Bay watershed were tasked with developing a Countywide Action Plan.

In 2020, Centre County drafted a Countywide Action Plan (CAP), which provides a roadmap for our county and partners to follow to help reach Centre County’s clean water goals. The initiatives outlined in the plan are intended to protect the future of Centre County’s natural resources while reaching other community goals. Prior to developing our draft CAP, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP) produced ‘Toolboxes’ specific to each county to assist with their CAP development. The Centre County Toolbox was developed as a starting point for our county to use to improve local water quality. It contains useful and specific data and information relevant to our county to assist with reaching our local water quality goals. To view it, click the Centre County Toolbox, or find more info and view it at PA-DEP Countywide Action Plans page.

In February 2021, Centre County finalized the Countywide Action Plan with both input from PADEP and over 50 local stakeholders. The final narrative of the Countywide Action Plan  provides overview for the goals set forth in the final Countywide Action Plan. As with the draft development, PADEP provided an additional Centre County Clean Water Implementation Toolbox to provide resources and technical support for the implementation of the CAP. The information in the Technical Toolbox is meant to serve as a starting point to help support Centre County in identifying funding opportunities, tracking, reporting, and verifying project implementation and permitting assistance. PADEP also created a Centre County Snapshot highlighting the current nutrient loads into local waterways, the nutrient reduction goals set forth in the CAP, and local watershed information.

The CAP two-year milestone review is now available. View the documents here.