Pennsylvania's Chesapeake Bay Watershed
What's New
Pennsylvanian's Guide to Permitting Watershed Improvement Projects 3020-BK-DEP5328 (PDF)
Half of the land area of Pennsylvania drains to the Chesapeake Bay from four major river basins, and Pennsylvania comprises 35 percent of the entire Chesapeake Bay Watershed. A
watershed is an area of land where all the water (surface and groundwater) flows to the lowest point – usually a stream, lake or river. The Susquehanna River is the largest tributary to the bay, providing 90 percent of the freshwater flow to the upper bay and half of the total freshwater flow to the bay. Simply stated, the water quality of the Chesapeake Bay cannot be restored without Pennsylvania's support. But even more important, local water quality in Pennsylvania must be restored.
Citizens are participating in community meetings and outdoor projects in 43 counties in Pennsylvania’s portion of the Chesapeake Bay watershed to determine actions that will reduce three types of nutrient pollutants running into PA waterways: nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment.
When it rains, these pollutants run off surfaces such as farm fields, streets, and parking lots and go right into streams and rivers.
Stormwater runoff has contributed to the impairment of more than 11,400 miles of streams in Pennsylvania's part of the watershed, and it heads downstream to damage the Chesapeake Bay as well.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency requires Pennsylvania and our neighbors in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed—Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland, New York, Virginia, and West Virginia—to reduce these pollutants by specific amounts by 2025.
Chesapeake Bay Program
Pennsylvania's Local Water Quality
For any strategy to succeed, that it is imperative that local water quality be our primary focus and concern. Local water quality improvements directly translate into cleaning the Bay and meeting the federal TMDL requirements. Pennsylvania's obligation not only stems from federal court decrees, but also from Pennsylvania's Clean Streams Law and the Pennsylvania Constitution, which declares that clean water is a right for all Pennsylvanians. Restoring and maintaining local water quality is a shared responsibility.