Where there's water, there's a way

"To the waters and the wild..." uttered Yeats --- and, like me, maybe you did just that for the holiday, picnicking in the woods or out on a stream somewhere. We have 83,000 miles of waterways in Pennsylvania (second only to Alaska, for the trivia buffs) but they're continually under myriad threats from pollution every day. And 50 percent of the fresh water that meanders and then barrels into the vast Chesapeake Bay comes from the 444-mile Susquehanna River.

The Chesapeake Clean Water Blueprint helps assess Pennsylvania's water quality in its streams and rivers as part of the interconnected Bay system. The results so far are a mixed bag: kudos for the state's progress, but much more needs to be done.

Lackawanna River

Whether you're in Lititz Run in Lancaster County where wild trout are rebounding --- or paddling the Lackawanna River above Scranton --- we can see real improvements in the health of our rivers and streams. Every time I chat with people fishing or boating who marvel about a time not long ago "when you couldn't even walk on the riverbank, it was so polluted," it reinforces that the work does pay off.

But our water quality is still not where it should be. The Pennsylvania Milestones report this week shows that the state fell short on five of eight practices to meet pollution reduction targets. The Choose Clean Water Coalition (PennFuture is the lead partner in Pennsylvania and a Steering Committee member) and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation analyzed progress in agricultural runoff, urban and suburban pollution sources, and wastewater treatment. One of the conclusions was that the state needs better data tracking and transparency so that Pennsylvania can meet its targets.

Congratulations are due all the citizens, watershed and angler groups and so many others, from Potter County to Pittston and in between, who make cleaner water happen.