Text Box: Phone: 717-529-2132 Fax: 717-529-2041 E-mail: owa1@epix.net

Officers

President:  Linda Swank

Vice-President:  Anders Alfelt

  Treasurer:  Arba Henry

    Secretary:  Pat Fasano
Text Box: Oxford Area Multi-Municipal Comprehensive Plan Text Box: The member municipalities of the Oxford Area School District have recently engaged the services of the Chester County Planning Commission through the County’s Vision Partnership Program to complete a multi-municipal comprehensive plan. The goal is for the multi-municipal plan to include the required elements for a comprehensive plan established in Article III of the Municipalities Planning Code. This planning program will be able to implement specific goals and objectives of Landscapes, Chester County’s comprehensive plan. One of the many benefits to this planning update will be to address growth issues currently impacting the Octoraro Watershed. Text Box: PA Municipalities Eligible for Special Funding through OWA’s Scenic River Designation Text Box: We would like to remind the Municipalities within the Octoraro Watershed of their eligibility for special funding through the PA Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Rivers Conservation Program. The Octoraro Watershed Association was able to obtain the Scenic River Registration for the Octoraro Creek back in 1983. The Association continues to be the managing organization for implementation of the Watershed Conservation Plan, which was adopted in 2003. Members of the Lancaster County Conservancy have engaged in these funding opportunities for their conservation efforts in the Little Britain and Fulton Townships. The Octoraro Watershed Association would like to coordinate such efforts for further conservation of the watershed corridor.

Archives

2008

2007

2006
Text Box: As I sit down to write this article for our newsletter my mind is reeling with all the topics that are currently affecting our watershed and the Association. Our lives have become so fast paced and complicated and so too the issues of where and how we live. We are challenged every day to keep the pace and do more. For the Watershed Association the call is no different. We are faced with funding issues, trying to increase membership, volunteerism issues, completing projects and assignments on a deadline and coming up with new ideas to benefit the quality of the watershed we live in. Looking back at last year’s President’s remarks, I realize that we have made progress. In some areas we progressed in leaps and bounds and in others at a snail’s pace. Our Amish Outreach continues and its origins are highlighted in an article by Pat Fasano on page 3. Our latest effort has been to talk to the Amish women about gardening ideas that not only benefit them but also benefit water quality. We are participating in a countywide group formed through the Lancaster County Conservation District that will give all watershed organizations a chance to share ideas and allow better networking for funding. We look forward to continuing this exchange of ideas and to working together for a common cause. We thank Matt Kofroth, Lancaster County Conservation District Watershed Coordinator for making that happen. And we have made progress in bringing watershed awareness to a part of our watershed often forgotten, that portion in Cecil County, MD. When I first joined the watershed association no one spoke about what happens below the PA/MD state line. Thanks to the efforts of Rupert and Cynthia Rossetti we now have a very active voice and networking system “below the line”. We all must realize there is not a gap between the state line and the Chesapeake Bay. Funding is the one aspect that has continued at a snail’s pace. Grants have become much tougher to receive for many reasons, as the economy tightens so do the grant funds. Also, more watershed groups are forming, which is great news, a direct benefit to the environment, but it also means we often end up competing for the same funding. This is one area the Board will continue to focus on, seeking both funds for projects and also to run the day to day operations of the organization. Finally an organization is only as strong as its members and those who choose to serve. I encourage you to take an active role in the association, volunteering or perhaps joining the Board of Directors and helping with the day to day operations. Remember what we do with water can have a lasting affect and there is always somebody or some thing downstream. I look forward to seeing you all at the annual meeting! Sincerely, Linda L. Swank lswank@state.pa.us Text Box: President’s Message Text Box: Newsletter Spring 2008

Whose Watershed is it anyway?

2

Amish Liaisons, a key to our watershed protection efforts

3

Development outpacing efforts to restore the Bay —Together we can help!

 

4

Chester County Updates

5

We can all do our part! - A field trip to the ClearWater Conservancy

6
Text Box: Well, the answer is quite simple; it belongs to us, the residents of Southern Lancaster County, southern Chester County and northern Cecil County. It encompasses over 230 square miles in fourteen (14) townships, four (4) boroughs and two states. Telling the importance of protecting and restoring property within the watershed is not new to those of you who receive this newsletter. It’s like “preaching to the choir”. The importance is in outreach, outreach to non-members through education, service, stewardship projects, and personal contact. This takes a lot of work and commitment on the part of the members. Nine (9) Board members cannot do it by themselves. It takes all members working together, either individually or in a committee, and through the guidance of the Board of Directors, to accomplish the goals set forth in the Mission Statement, …”to restore and protect the natural resources of the scenic Octoraro Creek and to preserve and protect its farmlands, forest, and rural heritage…”. How do we do this? Through education, outreach, restoration and community stewardship. Outreach becomes the key. Non-members have to see and understand what we are doing, why we are doing it, and how it will be of benefit to them, not only now, but in the years to come. Then, most importantly, they have to become involved in the programs and services of the Association. Do you know of someone who lives in the watershed and is not a member of the association? No doubt you do and they most likely are your neighbors. This is where outreach on your part begins, with that individual contact. Wouldn’t it be great if every member got a non-member to help us in some way? But before you do that, you need to be equipped educationally about the watershed. It may be as simple as reading our brochure. Why don’t you stop by or call the Watershed office for a handful of brochures. Update yourself as to what is currently on the “burner”, and start that new membership drive in your own community. Text Box: Whose Watershed Is It Anyway? Arba L. Henry — amhenry@epix.net

 

Our Mission:  To restore and protect the natural resources of the scenic Octoraro Creek and to preserve and protect its farmlands, forest, and rural heritage through education, outreach, restoration, and community stewardship.
Text Box: Amish Liaisons — A Key to our Watershed Protection Efforts Pat Fasano — PFasano@aol.com Text Box: The Octoraro Watershed is blessed to have 74% of the land use dedicated to agriculture. In the Pennsylvania portion of the watershed, 70% of the farms are owned or leased by members of the Old Order Amish. In order to reach out to this insular community, OWA needed a new and innovative outreach tool. In 2000, Arba Henry introduced me to Gerald Phillips. Mr. Phillips is a loan officer with Mid Atlantic Bank. He personally knew all of the Bishops in the Lancaster Portion of our watershed and was kind enough to drive me to meet with every Bishop. What a wonderful learning process that was. I then knew I needed additional help. In the middle of a fitful night of sleep I came up with the idea of creating a position I called “Amish Liaison”. I had worked closely with Mr. Frank Lucas who assisted many of the Amish farmers with installing stream bank fencing in the Mill Creek watershed. I contacted Mr. Lucas and he introduced me to Henry Beiler. Mr. Beiler’s bio is listed at the end of this story. Since 2001, Henry and I have visited at least 300 farms in the Lancaster County part of our watershed. In 2006 another Amish farmer suggested I meet with David Fisher. For the past 2 years Mr. David Fisher has visited at least 80 Amish farms in the Chester County part of our watershed. We have always met with the Amish bishops before we introduced a new program seeking their input and approval. The most unique and challenging program that OWA has facilitated was delivering a native tree seedling and curriculum to the one room school houses every Amish child attends. Our efforts and principles of using this tool have been replicated in many other places in Pennsylvania. Mr. Beiler has had many offers to assist other Conservation districts and watershed groups. We jokingly state that he has an exclusive contract with OWA. One of the things we did encourage him to do was to create his own watershed association where he lives. He and six other Amish men (and one” English” attorney) now comprise the board of the Mill Creek Watershed Association. Matt Kofroth of the Lancaster County Conservation district was also very helpful in forming this group. His office has also created an Amish Liaison position for outreach in other watersheds in Lancaster County. The learning, experience and rewards I have received from working closely with our Liaisons has been invaluable to our outreach, and to me personally. Henry and I just committed ourselves to continue to visit farms for the next 13 years as we have set the goal of 20 years of visits.

Abner Glick Stream Crossing
Text Box: Henry E. Beiler is a retired Amish farmer and cabinet maker from Leola, PA. He has served on the Board of Directors of the Lancaster Farmland Trust. Mr. Beiler was the first farmer to preserve his farm through the Trust. For the past four years he has served as OWA’s liaison to the Amish community in Lancaster County. Together with OWA, Mr. Beiler has visited over 300 farmers in the Octoraro watershed. He also writes for Dei Butschoff, which is an Amish publication. Through past relations and his cabinet business, Mr. Beiler has extensive personal knowledge of many of the Amish families in the Octoraro watershed. He is now the administrator of Green Pastures, a facility for Amish and Mennonite people with mental health challenges. Text Box: Henry Beiler’s Bio Text Box: Development Outpacing Efforts to Restore the Bay — Together we can help! Rupert Rossetti — RupertRossetti@aol.com Text Box: A recent report from the EPA’s Inspector General, “Development Growth Outpacing Progress in Watershed Efforts to Restore the Chesapeake Bay” says it all! While sewage treatment plant upgrades and agricultural “Best Management Practices” have had a significant positive impact, the effects of development are overwhelmingly negative, with increased runoff from hard surfaces flushing more nutrients and sediment into the Bay. As residents we can each start in our own backyard, disconnecting our downspouts from streams and storm drains, installing rain barrels, planting rain gardens and employing a host of other methods to keep our run-off on our properties. Developers and builders can do their bit too, becoming run-off neutral by employing “Environmental Site Design” techniques to mimic the natural systems that existed before clearance and construction. These include conducting an early environmental site assessment, maximizing forest canopy, minimizing impervious cover, infiltrating or reusing rooftop runoff, installing rain gardens, dry swales and linear wetlands and actively managing and maintaining stream buffers. Our elected officials can provide leadership by encouraging environmental site design techniques. Text Box: David S. Fisher is a retired Amish farmer in East Nottingham Township, Chester County. He has served as OWA’s Chester County Amish liaison since October 2005. Mr. Fisher preserved his farm through the Chester County Agricultural Preservation program in 1999, and has an updated conservation plan. He has been instrumental in facilitating communications with the Amish farmers in the Chester County portion of our watershed. His son-in-law now operates the farm by using no till farming, and following the recommendations from the Chester County conservation district . Text Box: David Fisher’s Bio Text Box: Chester County Updates Blair Fleishmann—717-529-6114 or bwf79@epix.net. Text Box: More Watershed Farms Preserved

Bellbank Bridge connects Upper Oxford Township to Colerain Township via Street Road. 

Picture taken before the 1970’s fire

 
Text Box: Octoraro Watershed Association 517 Pine Grove Road Nottingham, PA 19362 717-529-2132 owa1@epix.net Text Box: Last fall I had the opportunity to see a small portion of the work being done by the ClearWater Conservancy, a watershed group in Centre County, PA. (www.clearwaterconservancy.org) One stop on the tour was at their office, right along the busy highway, Route 322 (Just north of downtown State College). Being at such a visible location, it gave them a chance to effectively portray some simple conservation techniques useful for reducing their impact on the local watershed. The Conservancy has converted their office site into a demonstration of conservation techniques that can be used by homeowners and businesses to improve the quality of a watershed.  Specifically, the project shows how we can all work in our own yards to reduce non-point source pollution, conserve water, and improve wildlife habitat.  The techniques demonstrated include rain gardens, rain barrels, pervious surfaces, lawn alternatives, and native plants.  The project shows how, as a community, we can work in our own backyards to improve our watersheds. I was impressed with how they utilized every square foot to their advantage to increase infiltration and reduce the amount of polluted storm water reaching nearby streams. Across the main throughway was a new shopping complex, with a unique system to control the storm water pollution. In fact, the Lowe's storm water management design was based on several concepts demonstrated at the Conservancy office.  Patton Township's engineer required Lowe's to review ClearWater's project and incorporate some environmentally sustainable features.  When visiting Lowe's, look for the series of five tiered rain gardens handling the site's storm water and for the native plants and meadows.  Interpretive panels and a trail offer the visitor an educational experience.  http://www.clearwaterconservancy.org/watershed So the next time you get a chance to visit another watershed, check out how other people are working hard to help conserve the precious freshwater. If we all work together we can accomplish a lot. Text Box: We can all do our part! - A field trip to the ClearWater Conservancy Axel Linde — axellinde@epix.net Text Box: Chester County Updates Blair Fleishmann—717-529-6114 or bwf79@epix.net. Text Box: Farmland properties along the Octoraro Creek in Colerain Township, Lancaster County, and Upper Oxford Township, Chester County, have recently changed ownership. Some of these tracts of land have already been eased through the Brandywine Conservancy. Others have plans for conservation easements through the Lancaster Farmland Trust. Owners of these large parcels in the Andrews Bridge area are to be commended for their commitment to the preservation of land within the Octoraro Watershed. Similar preservation efforts are being made with the restoration of the Bellbank house. This historic resource overlooks the Bellbank Bridge which is targeted for recovering once the task force has identified funding for this project. Text Box: More Watershed Farms Preserved Text Box: The member municipalities of the Oxford Area School District have recently engaged the services of the Chester County Planning Commission through the County’s Vision Partnership Program to complete a multi-municipal comprehensive plan. The goal is for the multi-municipal plan to include the required elements for a comprehensive plan established in Article III of the Municipalities Planning Code. This planning program will be able to implement specific goals and objectives of Landscapes, Chester County’s comprehensive plan. One of the many benefits to this planning update will be to address growth issues currently impacting the Octoraro Watershed. Text Box: PA Municipalities Eligible for Special Funding through OWA’s Scenic River Designation Text Box: We would like to remind the Municipalities within the Octoraro Watershed of their eligibility for special funding through the PA Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Rivers Conservation Program. The Octoraro Watershed Association was able to obtain the Scenic River Registration for the Octoraro Creek back in 1983. The Association continues to be the managing organization for implementation of the Watershed Conservation Plan, which was adopted in 2003. Members of the Lancaster County Conservancy have engaged in these funding opportunities for their conservation efforts in the Little Britain and Fulton Townships. The Octoraro Watershed Association would like to coordinate such efforts for further conservation of the watershed corridor. Text Box: Oxford Area Multi-Municipal Comprehensive Plan