Christina Basin Clean Water Partnership

In 2004, the Christina Basin Clean Water Partnership (CBCWP) will be embarking on two important initiatives:

(1) Implementation of the USEPA Water Initiative Grant and

(2) Implementation of the Watershed Restoration Action Strategy (WRAS).

In 2003, the US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) awarded the CBCWP a $1 million grant for watershed restoration projects.   Approximately $500,000 each will be awarded to Delaware and Pennsylvania.  The Christina Basin was one of only twenty watersheds (out of more than 170 applicants) in the nation to receive these grants.  The USEPA rated the Christina Basin as the number one ranked application in the country!

With the funds in hand and basin high flow stormwater total maximum daily loads (TMDLs) due to be issued by the USEPA, Delaware and Pennsylvania by the end of 2004, the CBCWP plans to start work on a three year plan that includes the following components:

• Coordination and administration
  • Watershed coordination and oversight
  • Grant administration
  • Annual conferences
  • Final report
• Community participation and education
  • GIS clearinghouse and web site maintenance
  • Watershed stewardship education and involvement
• Best management practices (BMPs) implementation
  • Best management practices implementation in Pennsylvania
  • Smartyard landscaping for 500 homes in Delaware
• 5,000 feet of Delaware streambank restoration and reforestation
• Stormwater project implementation
  • Stormwater projects in Pennsylvania
  • Stormwater wetland retrofits in six basins in Delaware
• Water quality and stream habitat monitoring
  • Monitoring in Chester County, Pennsylvania
  • Monitoring in New Castle County, Delaware

The work involves community participation and education components that will be lead by entities such as the Christina Basin Task Force, the Brandywine Valley Association, Chester County Conservation District, Chester County Water Resources Agency, and the University of Delaware Water Resources Agency. Projects include:

Watershed Restoration Action Strategy

Protection and restoration of the waters of the Christina Basin is a big job that will take years of work by many participant.  Various members of the CBCWP will be appointed as "BMP Champions" to take the lead in implementing the various BMP strategies discussed below.  BMP Champions will be asked to develop a schedule with milestones and report back quarterly to the committee regarding the progress of the BMP initiatives.  The following Watershed Restoration Action Strategy (WRAS) is recommended to protect and restore the waters and the watersheds of the Christina Basin in Delaware by the year 2015.

Preservation and Protection Watershed BMPs

These relatively undeveloped "green" watersheds generally have healthy water quality due to low amounts of impervious surfaces, few contaminant sources, and high overall amounts of forested and open spaces.  The strategy for these areas is to keep "green" watersheds as they are and maintain existing good water quality through the following preservation and protection BMPs:

Restoration and Retrofitting Watershed BMPs

These developed watersheds have generally poor water quality due to higher amounts of impervious surfaces, low overall amounts of forested and open space, and higher densities of contaminant sources.   Restoration subwatersheds have characteristics of

• low percentages (< 10%) of wooded land,
• high percentages (> 20%) of impervious cover,
• relatively poor water quality, and
• many contaminant sources such as wastewater discharges and hazardous waste sites.

The strategy is to restore the "brown" watersheds and improve existing impaired water quality through the implementation of the following restoration and retrofitting Best Management Practices: