Our Mission
To preserve and enhance the watershed for its citizens and the environment through education and restoration projects.
Objectives
Restore the Little Conestoga Creek and its tributaries by:
- Providing watershed education to citizens
- Involving municipal and county officials in restoration endeavors
- Assisting agricultural professionals with streambank fencing and water management programs
- Securing funding for restoration activities and projects
- Utilizing native plant species in restoration projects
Who We Are
The Little Conestoga Watershed Alliance is a non-profit Pennsylvania corporation formed in March 2000. We bring together a cohesive group of individual citizens, businesses, farmers, non-profit conservation organizations, and local, state, and federal government representatives. As a community we are committed to creating a comprehensive approach to continual enhancement of water quality, stream restoration and preservation of natural resources within the Little Conestoga Creek Watershed.
What We Do
- We completed a Little Conestoga Watershed Action Plan in 2015 that guides our project implementation efforts.
- Apply for grants and use them in the restoration of the watershed.
- Collaborate with municipalities, non-profits and citizens to implement projects for improved water quality.
- We have community workdays to engage volunteers in cleanup and restoration of stream corridors.
- Educate private citizens, farmers, businesses and municipal officials about which activities negatively impact watershed health and what actions can be done to restore health to the system.
- The Little Conestoga Creek is on the List of Impaired Waters by Section 303(d) of the Federal Clean Water Act. We are working to improve the health of this creek and to preserve its resources for future generations.
- We can make a difference here in our own communities in Lancaster County and downstream in the Chesapeake Bay!
Swarr Run Before & After
Our Mission of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice
The mission of the Little Conestoga Watershed Alliance is to preserve and enhance the watershed for its citizens and the environment through education and restoration projects. Though our focus is on water quality, we are a community-based, all-volunteer organization, and as such cannot turn a blind eye to the righteous outcry for racial justice both within our community and in communities across America.
We commit as an organization to reflect on our own structure, engagement with the community, and mission to ensure that all voices are heard and represented as we work collaboratively to improve the health of the Little Conestoga watershed and the health of our community.
As a result, we will endeavor to take these actions:
- Seek to increase the diversity of our board of directors, to include women and people of color, by actively recruiting qualified minority candidates when a board opening occurs. Additionally, encourage minority participation in organization events and meetings.
- Make our website more accessible to the public by adding some Spanish language content about our organization’s mission and current contact information.
- Commit to implement a project in a community, classified as an environmental justice area or which falls below poverty level, which will be used for education and advocacy for water quality and environmental improvement. Ideally partnering with another community development organization with ties to that community.