NOTICE: PhillyWatersheds.org has been archived.

The archive will be available at http://archive.phillywatersheds.org for approximately one year (through September 2020). If you use or are responsible for content here that is not yet available elsewhere, please contact the PWD Digital Team.

Partnership Work

Schuylkill Action Network (SAN)

PWD’s Source Water Protection Program takes a watershed-wide approach to protecting the quality of the City’s drinking water sources. The Schuylkill Action Network (SAN) is a particularly important partner in this approach to source water protection. SAN’s mission, as stated on its website,www.schuylkillwaters.org, is to improve the water resources of the Schuylkill River watershed by working with state agencies, local watershed organizations, businesses, academics, water suppliers, local and state governments, regional agencies, and the federal government to transcend regulatory and jurisdictional boundaries in the strategic implementation of protection measures. SAN seeks to achieve this mission through the following series of workgroups: Abandoned Mine Drainage Workgroup, Agricultural Workgroup, Education and Outreach Workgroup, Pathogens/Compliance Workgroup, and Watershed Land Protection Workgroup.

Wissahickon Watershed Partnership

The Wissahickon Watershed Partnership was convened in 2005 for the purpose of guiding the development of a watershed-wide Integrated Watershed Management Plan (IWMP). The partnership has already taken on a significant amount in the watershed to address stream water quality and quantity issues, including stormwater management projects, municipal ordinance revisions, and public education and outreach events. Moving forward, PWD is focusing on the following overarching goals in the Philadelphia portion of the Wissahickon watershed: water quality and pollutant loads, in-stream flow conditions, streamflow and living resources, stream corridors, flooding, quality of life, and stewardship, communication, and coordination. PWD has determined that these overarching goals should be utilized to guide the City’s IWMP planning process, objective development, and ultimately implementation commitments.

Working with Upstream Communities

PWD takes a proactive approach to watershed protection by working with upstream communities and organizations. Some examples of PWD’s work with upstream communities and partners include the following:

  • working with regional land trusts and conservancies to ensure that forested lands, which help purify our source water, are permanently protected for drinking water supply protection;
  • lobbying for policies that preserve forests and emphasize water resource protection;
  • collaborating with the State of Pennsylvania to ensure regulations are enforced for wastewater treatment plants that discharge upstream of Philadelphia; and,
  • working with State and local stakeholders to rehabilitate the Fairmount Dam Fishway Facility. The facility is the largest fish passage structure in the Schuylkill River watershed and, as the farthermost downstream passageway, is especially critical to the overall success of restoring fish passage on the Schuylkill River and its tributaries.