Water Quality and Management

Managing stormwater, reducing flooding, and improving water quality.

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has a laboratory accreditation program for water testing labs to ensure data accuracy.

Microplastic pollution is not a new problem. However, in recent years, the public has become more aware, and scientists are studying the seriousness of the situation.

Stormwater can cause water pollution because it often contains harmful materials picked up when it washed across the land.

Want to control stormwater on your property? There are many different things you can do.

Sediment is a stormwater pollutant that is made up of soil particles that have been detached from the land by erosion and is Pennsylvania's largest surface water pollutant by volume.

Conveyances are man-made flow-ways used to move stormwater runoff to a place meant to receive it. Natural drainages are not called conveyances. Any other functions must be added to the system.

A brief introduction and instructional guide to using live staking as an inexpensive and simple technique to restoring eroding stream banks.

This manual for landowners describes where wetland restoration is possible and how it is done. It covers basic wetland concepts, ecological concepts and terms, wetland restoration, and maintenance.

Though it has been around since the times of ancient tribes, biochar is only recently becoming a popular topic of discussion among modern home gardeners, commercial farmers, land managers, and wastewater treatment operators.

Live stakes are an increasingly popular way to repair eroding streams on a budget. However, moving plants always comes with the risk of spreading pests and diseases.

Stormwater is the water that runs off of houses, streets, parking lots, and other hard surfaces during rain events. It has been identified as a major cause of water pollution.

Vegetated swales are contoured land areas or ditches covered in plants. They are designed to collect stormwater runoff and move it away from areas where it can't soak into the ground.

These pervious surfaces are designed to allow snowmelt and rain to drain through the hard, but porous, top surface.

A riparian buffer involves planting or retaining trees, shrubs, or tall grasses along the banks of rivers, streams, lakes, and ponds.

Native meadow plantings are meant to be low maintenance and, once established, only need to be cut back once or twice a year.

The adaptability of rain gardens makes it possible to fit them on urban and suburban sites where green space is limited.

Sediment barriers are temporary structures used around the edge of sites with bare soil. They are meant to separate any potential sediment pollution from stormwater that might flow off the site.

Without cover crops, the soil would be bare during the off-season and exposed to rain, snow, and wind.

Pet owners have several choices for safely disposing of their pet waste. The simplest method is usually collecting it in a bag and tossing it in the trash.

Trees adjacent to residential and commercial properties, parks, along roads, and in parking lots provide environmental, social and, economic benefits.

Grassed waterways are wide, shallow channels installed where water runoff usually concentrates in an agricultural field.

Stormwater basins are the reservoirs built near developments to temporarily hold stormwater during rain and snowmelt. They prevent high volumes of water from rushing into nearby streams during storms.

Manure is a great resource for farms because it contains valuable nutrients that benefit growing crops.

This restoration includes stabilizing and/or altering the stream channel to slow and direct the flow of water to reduce erosion and flooding.