Water quality in Pennsylvania must be restored and protected. Our local streams, rivers, and lakes provide drinking water to Pennsylvanians. They also provide recreation and wildlife and aquatic habitat. Since our local waters flow into larger water bodies, Pennsylvania is partnering with surrounding states to achieve significant, measurable water quality improvements in regional water resources such as the Chesapeake Bay. Since 1985, Pennsylvania has invested $4 billion toward local water quality improvements which support Chesapeake Bay restoration efforts. The investment has resulted in improved local water quality as well as in the Bay, but there is much more that must be done in Pennsylvania to provide clean water locally and regionally. Computer models show that Pennsylvania is doing well in addressing phosphorus loadings to the Bay; however, Pennsylvania needs to take additional steps to address local and regional nitrogen and sediment reduction goals.

Pennsylvania’s wastewater treatment plants have achieved their required pollutant reduction goals. Agriculture still has a considerable way to go in meeting pollution reduction goals. Agriculture is the main player for reducing nutrients and sediments to streams. Agriculture has contributed to the water improvement efforts, but many of these efforts have not been reported, to give credit towards meeting these agricultural reduction goals. Even with previously uncounted efforts recently being counted, there is still much more that needs to be done by all of agriculture as well as the residential/urban stormwater sector.

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