Reinvigoration of the Christina Basin Clean Water Partnership
Date
2008-11-12
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Abstract
We propose to reinvigorate the Christina Basin Clean Water Partnership to meet our goals of restoring the waters of the Brandywine, Red Clay, White Clay, and Christina Creeks in Delaware and Pennsylvania to fishable, swimmable, and potable status by 2015. To do this, we recommend that the partnership:
1. Implement the Christina Basin Pollution Control Strategy in Delaware.
2. Employ a full time watershed governance structure.
3. Raise funds for restoration through sustainable watershed financing.
4. Develop a water quality trading bank.
Since 1994, the two States, the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency, and Delaware River Basin Commission and the Christina Basin Clean Water Partnership have been working together to restore interstate streams in the Christina Basin to Clean Water Act standards. The Christina Basin is one of only two watersheds in the entire Delaware River Basin that share the boundaries of more than one state. In 2006, the USEPA and the two states negotiated Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDL) for impaired streams in the Christina Basin. In February 2008 at a legislative briefing in Kennett Square, the partnership announced the completion of a $1 million grant as part of the USEPA Targeted Watershed Initiative as the No. 1 rated application out of 170 watersheds in the USA. Chester County, PA has developed watershed plans for the Brandywine, Red Clay, and White Clay. Delaware has completed a Pollution Control Strategy for its portion of the basin. Stream water quality is improving in the Christina Basin particularly for dissolved oxygen, phosphorus, and sediment while nitrogen is degrading and bacteria levels are too high. The economic value of the Christina Basin approaches $270 million annually.