Watershed Assistance Center Reaches Out at Crooked Creek
By Carla Ruddock
Watershed Planning Coordinator
In 2002, the Crooked Creek Watershed Association received a grant from the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) to complete a Rivers Conservation Plan for the Lower Crooked Creek watershed. Seeking help to prepare the plan, the association contacted Western Pennsylvania Conservancy’s Watershed Assistance Center, which had aided other local groups in forging Rivers Conservation Plans for the Youghiogheny River and other streams in the region.
Rivers Conservation Plans and Watershed Conservation Plans are developed to promote the conservation and enhancement of land, water, wildlife and cultural resources associated with various streams throughout Pennsylvania. The plans offer recommendations and resource information and identify potential funding sources. Recommendations are non-binding on local municipalities.
Community participation is crucial to effective and useful watershed conservation plans. Throughout the Crooked Creek planning process, our Watershed Assistance Center provided technical help and insight from past experience while a steering committee composed of local volunteers coordinated the effort and won the trust and input of area residents. Committee members attended municipal meetings, township supervisor conventions and community events to convey accurate information about the plan concept. Most importantly, the committee hosted public meetings and evaluated comments and concerns of citizens. Goals forged from this community process enjoyed broad support.
“The Watershed Assistance Center encouraged us to get the watershed community involved in the planning process,” noted Pam Meade of the Crooked Creek Watershed Association. “The community felt their opinions and ideas mattered and became invested into the planning process. That was the big difference between this plan and the other two plans I have worked on.”
Local advisory committees also assisted in the plan’s preparation. The steering committee appointed five advisory committees to work specifically with land, water, biological, cultural and socio-economic resources.
“Community support and participation are a reflection of the volunteers,” said Dennis Hawley, Crook Creek Watershed Association president. “People are more likely to get involved when other people t hey know are involved, and the more they are involved the more invested they become.”
The Lower Crooked Creek Watershed Conservation Plan was completed in June 2004 and will be submitted to DCNR for inclusion on the Pennsylvania River Registry. The registry is a listing of 65 watersheds for which conservation plans have been prepared and approved. Rivers or watersheds on the registry are eligible for additional funding sources that groups can use to implement the plan recommendations.
“This is only the beginning,” noted Project Manager Jack Augustine. “The plan is the foundation for future development and planning in the watershed. It lays out the watershed’s assets that can be used for future projects.”
To view a copy of the Lower Crooked Creek Watershed Conservation Plan please visit our website at http://www.paconserve.org/cc-draft/. To learn if a conservation plan has been prepared for your local river or watershed, check the river registry on DCNR’s website at http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/brc/
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