Lancaster County will receive or share in more than $5 million in state grants recently awarded for environmental work.
The largest grant, just over $3 million, will go to the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay. It will fund the planting of riparian buffers in Lancaster and nine other counties in the Susquehanna River watershed, the Department of Conservation & Natural Resources said.
The plantings, installed along riverbanks and creek banks, absorb runoff from the land nearby, reducing the pollution from sediment and fertilizers.
The grant is part of $11.8 million allocated through DCNR’s Keystone Tree Fund via the 2023 budget. Most of the money comes from the federal American Rescue Plan Act.
Meanwhile, Department of Environmental Protection has announced multiple grants to Lancaster County organizations through its Growing Greener Plus program.
The Little Conestoga Creek Foundation is receiving $1.1 million for its Blue/Green Corridor project, Lancaster County’s largest stream restoration effort to date.
Another $854,470 is going to American Rivers for its Chiques Roller Mill Dam removal project on the Chiques Creek near Manheim. The Lancaster County Conservation District is receiving $342,190 for four clean-water projects; lastly, Warwick Township is receiving $75,000 for design and permitting for a restoration project at a Cocalico Creek tributary near one of the township’s pump stations.
The DEP grants are part of a round of Growing Greener Plus funding that totaled more than $19 million statewide.
