Mission and History of PCWEA

Background and Mission A large portion of the land surrounding Harrisburg, Pennsylvania drains into Paxton Creek. In recent years residents of the area have noted many changes brought by development, including changed land uses around the stream, alterations in water levels and flow patterns, and significant erosion, sedimentation, congestion, sprawl, declining open space, and flooding. Development encroaches upon most of the headwaters. The 27-square mile watershed produces over twice the nutrients, and 15 times the yields of suspended sediments released by typical forested basins. Below, a map of Paxton Creek shows its origins in Penbrook Borough, Lower Paxton and Susquehanna Townships, and the City of Harrisburg, to its junctions with the Susquehanna River.

Prior to passage of the Pennsylvania Environmental Stewardship and Watershed Protection Act, area citizens and officials (Department of Environmental Protection, Dauphin County Conservation District, Harrisburg Area Community College, Dauphin County Parks and Recreation, City of Harrisburg) met about the situation.

Two Growing Greener grants -- one for the establishment of a watershed association, and another for a watershed assessment -- were directed at Paxton Creek. The one for the watershed assessment was competed in December, 2002. The other, for the organization of Paxton Creek Watershed and Education Association (PCWEA) ended in June, 2003. PCWEA was formed with a three-part mission: to solve watershed problems, protect and enhance watershed resources, and facilitate hands-on environmental education.

The PCWEA is for stake holders, people who live, work, and play in the watershed, an estimated 80,000 persons. The PCWEA operates under the premise that those persons who actively participate become stake holders, share common visions, achieve meaningful contributions, and are likely to support efforts to improve their surroundings.

Early History: 2001-2002

From January to April, 2001, all stake holders of the Paxton Creek Watershed were invited to Public Visioning Meetings . Four meetings were held in different areas of the watershed. Attendees discussed sprawl, erosion, floods, watershed education, and other issues affecting the quality of life, and business opportunities in the watershed. Municipal officials and others who had expressed interest were invited to a Planning Workshop at HACC on April 28, 2001. Action priorities were developed there, and watershed activities were underway!

PCWEA provided a display for the Earth Day Celebration at Penn State Harrisburg on April 17, 2001. Also during Earth Week, PCWEA volunteers conducted a 2001 Paxton Creek Cleanup on part of the watershed. A Water Quality Monitoring Protoco was formed, and is being implemented. The Paxton Creek Rangers , five teams of water quality monitoring volunteers affiliated with with Pennsylvania Senior Environment Corps, underwent training, and,noe, conduct regular monitoring activities. The Rangers participated in Snapshot 2001, 2002 and 2003, a state-wide event held in April each year. In late spring and early fall, Environmental Science (Biology 103) students from HACC conducted stream side buffer plantings along the Asylum Run and Harrisburg branches of Paxton Creek. In August of both years, PCWEA, students from HACC's Environmental Academy with DEP Secretary David Hess, and Jr. Naturalists of Daupin County Parks and Recreation joined professional biologists on Creek Critters Safaris . In October environmentally-concerned people of all ages shared information and skills on water resource monitoring, water chemistry, plant and animal life identification as part of the 3M Monitoring, Mentoring, and More Jamboree on the old flood plain of HACC on Paxton Creek.

During the summer, 2001 the organization became incorporated, adopted bylaws, changed its name from Paxton Creek Watershed Association and Educational Track to Paxton Creek Watershed and Education Association (PCWEA), and formed a Board of Directors, with officers selected by the Board.

In the intervening months of 2002 the PCWEA engaged in the following activities and events: a stream-signage project with Susquehanna River Basin Commission in placement of watershed signs at stream crossings of state roads in Lower Paxton Township and the City of Harrisburg; registration with the Internal Revenue Service as a 501(c)(3) agency, and an organization with Pennsylvania Board of Charitable Organization status (which was not continued beyond the first year); submittal of an application for a Rivers Conservation Planning grant from the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources that was awarded in August, 2002. PCWEA Directors spent much time recruiting, and negotiating with partners involved in the planning grant application, and conducted other activities: formation of technical and advisory groups for the planning effort; a technical gathering on databases and information sources on Paxton Creek; Midwinter Macros and other educational training for monitors; a Hot Spots Tour of the watershed on the web site; with partners sponsorship of a project on removal of invasive vegetation, a photography contest, and a Blair Seitz Photography Workshop; displays in a local library, at monitoring conferences, meetings, and at observances about rivers, environmental advisory commissions, and Smart Growth land development; Consensus Building Workshop lead by the Canaan Valley Institute. Presentations were made before Pennsylvania Senior Environmental Corps, Lower Paxton Township Citizens Advisory Group, Partnership in Environmental Technology Education, and at other venues.

January-May, 2003

During 2003 many PCWEA activities and events pertaining to development of the watershed plan were conducted, with initiatives for watershed improvement. The latter efforts included: technical resource gatherings on stormwater and impervious surfaces, workshops on conservation landscaping and impervious surface retrofit techniques,buffer plantings with partners at Harrisburg Area Community College, and a church; selection of new officers and board members; ground truthing of impervious surface and land cover maps by Canaan Valley Institute; resource inventories for the plan; comments on draft of Lower Paxton Township's Comprehensive Plan; participation in the Paxton Creek Roundtable (months-long discussions by builders, local officials, and others on low-impact development principles); formation of the Watershed Watchers (staff gauge and water level recorders), and creation of documents for the Healthy Creek Project.

June, 2003-Present

The quarterly PCWEA newsletters contain information on most activities of the organization.

Achievements

In addition to organizational aspects and general gatherings, visioning meetings were conducted by the PCWEA throughout the watershed. At these meetings stake holders stated their concerns about watershed problems, attributes, and hopes for the future. Other achievements by the PCWEA and partners are the creation of a web site, flyers , GIS maps, and a newsletter about the watershed; cooperation with organizational partners in equipment and training preparations for a GIS database; training in low impact development, storm water retrofit, and releated topics; interaction with C-SAW on monitoring aspects of Paxton Creek, installation and calibration of stream gauges, and plans for a storm sediment study; formed Watershed Watchers.

Educational Mission

A special aspect of the PCWEA involves its educational mission. When the educational programs are fully implemented, watershed education will be conducted by three means: education as part of curriculum that permit students to count secondary school courses for college credit; watershed education that integrates the traditional and non-formal venues (e.g., secondary schools and HACC with the Olewine Nature Center; training workshops and State of the Watershed Reports; project-related products such as educational brochures, and information sheets; educational section of the Rivers Conservation Plan; PCWEA partnerships with environmental, business, education, and civic groups); interactions with secondary schools such as Londonderry School on Geographical Information Technologies; HACC classes. The last type has already resulted in plans for, or products such as a physical relief model of the watershed, educational games, art projects, PowerPoint presentations, poems, drafts of brochures and promotional materials, website designs, and other items.

Funding

PCWEA operates with volunteer labor, and many funding sources: membership fees, small grants, in-kind contributions, and wreath sales.

Past grants included: Growing Greener Grant to start up the association from PA DEP (ended in June 30, 2003); Rivers Conservation Plan Grant from PA DCNR (with extensions, ended June, 2006); conservation design (stormwater) grant from Canaan Valley Institute (ended October, 2003); PA Environmental Foundation grant for plan DVD and video (ended August, 2006); grant to support construction of three bioretention projects (bioretention area, rain garden, stormwater detention basin retrofit ended in September, 2007); from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation; Targeted Watershed Grant for five projects with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Funds (administed by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation).

Paxton Creek Watershed Map

See sections of the Rivers Conservation Plan for maps of the watershed and subwatersheds.

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