Environmental Grant Program

Environmental Grant Program

Pennsylvania American Water's Environmental Grant Program awards grants of up to $10,000 to support diverse types of environmental sustainability activities such as watershed cleanups, reforestation efforts, biodiversity projects, streamside buffer restoration projects and hazardous waste collection efforts.

At Pennsylvania American Water, we are committed to protecting the environment in the communities we serve and are proud to support the efforts of local organizations that share our vision.

Established in 2005, our Environmental Grant Program offers funds for innovative, community-based environmental projects that improve, restore or protect the watersheds, surface water and/or groundwater supplies in our local communities. We are pleased to offer this assistance to our community partners, while leveraging local resources and capabilities to make a positive impact on the environment.

To qualify for Environmental Grant funding, a proposed project must:

• Improve, protect or restore the watershed or source water
• Be located within the Pennsylvania American Water service area
• Be a new or innovative community initiative, or serve as significant expansion to an existing program.

Deadline to enter EXTENDED: Entries will be accepted through March 24.

For More Information

• 2012 Environmental Grant Program Brochure
• 2012 Grant Program Application Forms
• Contact Terry Maenza at 610-670-7789, ext. 1009 or terry.maenza@amwater.com.

Take a Look at our 2011 Environmental Grant Winners

Pennsylvania American Water issued seven grants totaling approximately $35,000 to the following organizations:

• Pittsburgh Botanic Garden will use the funding to clean up a 40-acre site in the Chartiers Creek watershed in Collier Township by removing debris and invasive species and by planting trees, shrubs and other native plants to restore the habitat and foster animal/plant biodiversity. The project also includes restoring aquatic native species to help with the bioremediation of acid mine drainage in wetlands areas, which will enhance water quality in Pinkerton Run.
• Marywood University will develop and facilitate an instructional workshop this summer for middle and high school teachers in northeast Pennsylvania. The “Watershed Workshop” will consist of classroom instruction, laboratory exercises, video programs, field work and peer teaching in the Lackawanna River watershed to improve the educators’ understanding about the ecology and value of natural watersheds.
• Brandywine Valley Association plans to develop an environmental education program for students (ages 5-12) at BVA’s Saalbach Farm to serve East Fallowfield, Valley and Caln townships among other communities in the Coatesville Area School District. The hands-on educational activities will focus on the importance of watershed protection, including wetland and stream studies, examination of the water cycle, ecosystems and exploration of the area’s rich natural resources,
• Dauphin County Conservation District will support the restoration of approximately 4,400 feet of riparian buffer to increase stream bed protection and enhance water quality along a tributary of the Swatara Creek in Derry Township. The project also entails developing an outside classroom and additional educational resources to benefit the community and local school groups for years to come.
• Clarks Summit Shade Tree Commission will use the grant to positively impact the community’s water resources and watershed by reforesting the junction of Summit Lake Creek and Leggett’s Creek. In addition to planting trees and shrubs, the group plans to conduct stream bed cleanup to prevent flash-flooding a along Summit Lane Creek, as well as host an educational forum with other project partners, including the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources’ Bureau of Forestry, Penn State Cooperative Extension’s Urban Forestry, and Clarks Summit Borough officials.
• Buffalo Creek Watershed Association will support the organization’s efforts to enhance its water-monitoring program for selected streams within the Buffalo Creek Watershed to promote early identification of adverse water quality trends and deviations. To improve the program’s ongoing surveillance and sampling practices, the group will purchase and install permanent in-stream data loggers to continuously generate real-time, reliable data, which will download into an automated software system.
• Southeastern Pennsylvania Resource Conservation and Development Council will establish a rainwater harvesting system at the Spring-Ford Intermediate School in Royersford to provide students with hands-on environmental lessons in water conservation. The proposed system will capture rainwater to operate the schoolyard pond and stream, as well as irrigate the plants in the school’s garden. The project will also serve as a focal point for fifth- and sixth-grade lessons on watersheds, wetlands, sustainability, conservation and water management.

2010 Environmental Grant Winners

• Friends of McConnells Mill State Park, Lawrence County
  With the grant, the organization will help protect the Slippery Rock Creek Watershed from erosion and sedimentation by reforesting two critical areas. The project will rely on local volunteers to plant trees, shrubs and warm season grasses to enhance the sites, which have been cleared due to disease and safety issues with the established trees.
• Pennsylvania Environmental Council, Luzerne County
  With the funding, the PEC will undertake an invasive species removal, riparian buffer planting and educational program involving Pennsylvania American Water’s property along the Huntsville Creek. The project will improve the creek’s water quality and educate volunteers about healthy riparian buffers. In addition to removing invasive Japanese Knotweed that contributes to stream bank erosion, the organization will replant the area with native species, trees and shrubs.
• Yellow Breeches Watershed Association, Cumberland County
  The grant will enable the organization to purchase water-testing equipment for monitoring the health of Yellow Breeches Creek and its tributaries. With the new equipment, the YBWA monitoring teams, including retired science teachers, professionals and dedicated volunteers of all ages from the Capital Area Pennsylvania Senior Environmental Corps, will have the advanced technical capability to compile data and develop a comprehensive look at trends affecting the creek’s health.
• Audubon Pennsylvania, Montgomery County
  The organization will develop and implement an educational program called “Wild About Our Watershed” for students and adults in Montgomery County. The hands-on program will increase the students’ knowledge of watersheds and local waterways, including field trips to the John James Audubon Center to monitor and evaluate the Perkiomen Creek and help restore it through clean-up events and habitat plantings. The organization will offer the program to schools across Montgomery County, with a special emphasis on the Norristown School District.
• Keystone College, Lackawanna County
  The funding will support the college’s Watershed Explorers Course for K-6 teachers. The hands-on, science-based course examines various aspects of watershed concepts and provides teachers with the training and tools necessary to inspire their students to be good stewards of the environment. Course topics include human impacts on the watershed, applied stream ecology and water quality monitoring.
• South Park Township, Allegheny County
  The community launched a stream clean-up program nearly seven years ago, and the grant will enable township officials to expand the clean-up of creek beds and banks along the Piney Fork and Peters Creeks. The grant will provide the tools to be used by volunteers for clean-up activities, as well as help fund the tire and trash disposal.
• Lackawanna River Corridor Association, Lackawanna County
  The association, its partners and volunteers will clean up illegal dumpsites along the Lackawanna River, including a 4.3-acre former railroad parcel in Scranton and a three-acre abandoned mine site in Dickson City. After removing debris and recycling tires and scrap metal, the organization will seed and mulch the sites.
• Yardley Borough Environmental Advisory Commission, Bucks County
  The funding will assist the borough in establishing a rain garden at the Orchard Hill basin. The project will reduce the impact of the residential development’s stormwater run-off on the local watershed. The rain garden is a landscaped area that contains native plants and vegetation, replacing lawn areas. It fills with water during rain storms and allows the water to gradually filter into the ground instead of running off into storm drains.
• Lemoyne Borough, Cumberland County
  With the grant, the borough will support volunteers in applying markers and stencils on approximately 300 stormwater inlets. The project will help raise public awareness about how pollutants reach the Susquehanna River and Chesapeake Bay, while helping prevent unwanted dumping of contaminants in the municipal storm sewer system. The borough will partner on the project with the Boy Scouts, including a local Eagle Scout candidate.

Past  Winners

• 2009 Environmental Grant Winners
• 2008 Environmental Grant Winners
• 2007 Environmental Grant Winners