web analytics

Month: April 2022

Posted on

Streamside Buffers

– A Strategy for Pollution Reduction in Our Watershed

When people think about pollutants in a local stream like the Paxton Creek they don’t often think about dirt.  Dirt, or sediment – solid fragmented material, such as silt, sand, gravel, chemical precipitates, and fossil fragments – that makes its way into the stream channel is considered to be a source of pollution.  The Environmental Protection Agency lists sediment as the most common pollutant in rivers, streams, lakes and reservoirs.  Sediment can cause numerous issues in the aquatic environment. In stream beds it disrupts the natural food chain by destroying the habitat where the smallest stream organisms live, causing massive declines in fish populations.  Sediment can clog fish gills, reducing resistance to disease, lowering growth rates, and affecting fish egg and larvae development. 

Sources of sediments include urban stormwater runoff, soil disturbance by construction activities, and farming.  Some sediment comes from natural erosion of flowing water, but severe storm events can cause heavy erosion to unprotected streambanks.  The roots of trees and other plants are the key to stabilizing the banks and keeping soil in place.  That is why re-creating streamside buffers in places where they have been removed has become a very effective strategy to repair damaged streambanks and reduce sediment pollution.

A consortium of government agencies recently pooled their resources and undertook sediment removal and streamside buffer restoration projects within the Paxton Creek Watershed. Participants in the projects included the City of Harrisburg, Susquehanna Township, Lower Paxton Township, and the PA Department of Transportation.  An example of a streamside buffering / restoration project occurred at Shutt Mill Park in Susquehanna Township in 2021.

Shutt Mill Park Before & After Stream Restoration

If you are a landowner with a stream on your property, or if you know one, the PA Department of Conservation and Natural Resources has stream buffer experts who can help you protect and enhance your land.  You can contact them at ra-nrstreambuffers@pa.gov or call 717-705-2820.  Your local municipal stormwater department may also have additional resources to offer.  Not only will you be helping to reduce pollution in your watershed, but you will also be creating better conditions for wildlife on land and in the water.

You can become part of the solution to cleaner water by joining the Paxton Creek Watershed Education Association and helping to spread the word about streamside buffers and other good stewardship practices.  Check our website www.paxtoncreek.org or send us an email at stream@paxtoncreek.org.

Posted on

Introducing Regener8

Regenr8 is a volunteer group of professionals from the sustainable building community working at the intersection of social and ecological health. We are a partner of the 501(c)(3) Sustainability Nexus. Our collective recognizes the importance of inclusivity in mutually evolving the capacity of all stakeholders and the need to shift the way we think and work through hands-on experience in place-sourced, value-adding processes. We seek to work locally with existing teams and to convene new teams to undertake initiatives that enhance vibrancy, expand capacity and connectivity of our communities, guiding them in employing regenerative principles in this work. We advocate for a regenerative approach that aligns public & private investment with both the natural and social systems nested within our communities and the region as a whole.

The vitality and vibrancy of Harrisburg are directly connected to the vitality and vibrancy of the Capital Region. Harrisburg is the heart of the region and the region as a whole cannot be healthy without a healthy heart. As stakeholders, we feel a deep sense of responsibility to contribute to this vitality and vibrancy in a way that best serves the community.

Since first convening in November 2019, we have applied regenerative principles to create alignment around working with the community within our initial focus area of Harrisburg and the Capital Region. This effort proceeded in 2020 to developing a Story of PlaceTM for Harrisburg, where we researched the social-ecological patterns that shaped the area, interviewed citizen leaders and held community workshops. Through the Story of Place, we defined our goal:

“We seek to cross divides, both visible and perceived in greater Harrisburg to express the enriching layering flows unique to our region that enables access to greater opportunities.“

In 2021 we began applying regenerative principles and the Harrisburg Story of Place Core Patterns to the Paxton Creek Multiuse Greenway Project, a proposed reparation of the Paxton Creek waterway that will integrate conservation areas with a recreational pathway for walking, jogging, and biking through the municipalities of Lower Paxton Township, Susquehanna Township and the City of Harrisburg. We believe this project is a perfect opportunity to apply regenerative principles to the way we work with each other, across municipal and community boundaries, and in alignment with natural systems. Our methodology was applied at a workshop with the Paxton Crossing HOA toward preparing a grant proposal. Based on the interest in this concept that we’ve garnered from township, county and state agencies, we are anticipating a workshop this spring that will bring together all the stakeholders of the Paxton Creek watershed.

For more information, to sign up for our newsletter and to volunteer in this effort, please go to our website regenr8.dev.