PRINTER'S NO. 945
No. 110 Session of 2007
INTRODUCED BY MUSTO, M. WHITE, FERLO, KASUNIC, BOSCOLA,
TARTAGLIONE, ERICKSON, O'PAKE, MELLOW, FONTANA, LOGAN, COSTA,
McILHINNEY, C. WILLIAMS, RAFFERTY, ROBBINS, PILEGGI, EARLL,
GORDNER, STOUT, FOLMER, STACK, WASHINGTON, GREENLEAF, PUNT
AND ORIE, MAY 1, 2007
INTRODUCED AND ADOPTED, MAY 1, 2007
A RESOLUTION
1 Designating the month of May 2007 as "Watershed Awareness Month"
2 in Pennsylvania.
3 WHEREAS, The land, rivers, streams, lakes, wetlands and
4 groundwater resources of this Commonwealth are interconnected to
5 form a rich mosaic of watersheds; and
6 WHEREAS, These treasured water resources provide citizens
7 with clean drinking water and recreational and business
8 opportunities; and
9 WHEREAS, This Commonwealth contains more than 83,000 miles of
10 rivers and streams; and
11 WHEREAS, There are eight distinct river basins in
12 Pennsylvania: Lake Erie, Ohio River, Genesee River (Lake
13 Ontario), Susquehanna, Delaware, Potomac, Elk and
14 Northeast/Gunpowder; and
15 WHEREAS, There are 104 watersheds, the basic building blocks
16 of the natural environment, in this Commonwealth; and
1 WHEREAS, More than 13,400 miles of streams and rivers in this
2 Commonwealth are so impaired that they do not meet current water
3 quality standards; and
4 WHEREAS, The Commonwealth invests enormous resources to
5 restore and protect water, including the remediation of polluted
6 water from 180,000 acres of abandoned coal mines and the more
7 than 2 billion tons of coal refuse which contaminates more than
8 6,200 miles of streams and associated groundwater; and
9 WHEREAS, Abandoned mines, coal refuse and their associated
10 polluted water discharges are the main reason contaminated
11 streams do not meet water quality standards; and
12 WHEREAS, The Congress of the United States last year
13 reauthorized the Abandoned Mine Reclamation Fund fee to provide
14 Pennsylvania with an estimated $1.4 billion in Federal funding
15 over the next 15 years to reclaim abandoned mines and treat
16 abandoned mine drainage; and
17 WHEREAS, The AML Campaign in Pennsylvania, made up of
18 watershed and environmental groups, the coal industry,
19 conservation districts, State and local governments and many
20 others, lobbied tirelessly for action on the Abandoned Mine
21 Reclamation Fund fee; and
22 WHEREAS, The Commonwealth is committed to a watershed
23 approach to resource management where concerned community
24 members come together as watershed guardians to address and
25 resolve problems; and
26 WHEREAS, The Commonwealth empowers and assists local
27 watershed organizations working in partnership as watershed
28 guardians to resolve or remediate current water quality and
29 water quantity problems within watershed boundaries; and
30 WHEREAS, This watershed approach to environmental protection
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1 leads to cleaner rivers and streams, safer drinking water and
2 greater protection of aquatic wildlife habitats; and
3 WHEREAS, There are more than 400 active watershed groups in
4 this Commonwealth, and new watershed groups are forming; and
5 WHEREAS, Watershed groups have reclaimed more than 5,000
6 acres of abandoned mines, planted more than 1,500 miles of
7 stream buffers and created or restored more than 3,000 acres of
8 wetlands since 1999; and
9 WHEREAS, More than 11,000 citizens are actively engaged in
10 monitoring water quality throughout this Commonwealth, in
11 particular more than 2,500 volunteers in 52 counties covered by
12 local chapters of the Pennsylvania Senior Environment Corps; and
13 WHEREAS, Local watershed groups are a cost-effective
14 investment in environmental cleanup for the Commonwealth: for
15 every $1 invested by the State, watershed groups have matched it
16 with $1.25 of their own funds, more than doubling the
17 Commonwealth's investment; and
18 WHEREAS, Educational forums connecting adults and children to
19 their watersheds, including the land, water and people,
20 ultimately provide long-term protection for these important and
21 valuable water resources; and
22 WHEREAS, The Commonwealth recognizes and celebrates the
23 efforts of hardworking volunteers within watershed groups who
24 improve their communities today and for future generations;
25 therefore be it
26 RESOLVED, That the Senate designate the month of May 2007 as
27 "Watershed Awareness Month" in Pennsylvania; and be it further
28 RESOLVED, That the Senate recognize the theme "Reclaiming
29 Abandoned Mines to Reclaim Pennsylvania's Waterways" to
30 celebrate the success of the effort reauthorizing the Federal
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1 Abandoned Mine Reclamation Fund fee and the steps taken by the
2 AML Campaign, Federal and State Government and watershed groups
3 throughout the State to address Pennsylvania's primary threat to
4 clean water.
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