UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- The Penn State Center for Watershed Stewardship received an award recently from Gov. Tom Ridge for work it did with a Berks County conservancy on the stream that provides Reading's drinking water.

The center also is involved in an award-winning project on Kettle Creek in Potter and Clinton counties.

Ridge announced the initial 25 winners of the first-ever "Governor's Award for Watershed Stewardship." The Penn State Center for Watershed Stewardship won its award for assessment and planning for the Maiden Creek Keystone Project, a joint venture with the Berks County Conservancy.

The center, an interdisciplinary unit in the College of Agricultural Sciences and the College of Arts and Architecture, was established four years ago by a $1.78 million grant from the Howard Heinz Endowment.

The project was carried out by a team of five graduate students from the School of Forest Resources and the Department of Landscape Architecture, and by three faculty on special "Heinz Faculty Fellow" appointments to assist the work. They were Kenneth R. Tamminga, associate professor of landscape architecture, Dr. William E. Sharpe, professor of forest hydrology, and Barry Evans, senior research assistant, ERRI.

The Kettle Creek Watershed Association earned an award for its work on the stream in northcentral Pennsylvania, accomplished with multiple partners including the center and National Trout Unlimited.

Maiden Creek watershed covers 216 square miles in Berks and Lehigh counties. With forested headwaters on Blue Mountain, rich farmland in the lower reaches and Reading's reservoir near the mouth, Maiden Creek has been polluted by runoff from development and agriculture.

The center took less than a year to prepare a plan to reduce the pollution and protect the stream. The Berks County Conservancy estimates that the in-kind value of the Keystone Project on Maiden Creek, based on student and faculty time totaling more than 5,000 hours, is $87,000.

For its efforts, the center also received citations from Pennsylvania Sen. Jake Corman (R-34th), Sen. David Brightbill (R-48th), Sen. Michael O'Pake (D-11th) and Rep. Lynn Herman (R-77th).

"Maiden Creek was an excellent choice for the center's first Keystone Project because Berks County Conservancy, the lead community sponsor, has solid working relationships with many key stakeholders," says Lysle Sherwin, director of the center.

"The partnerships ranging from Reading Water Authority, elected township and county officials and planners, and agricultural leaders immeasurably enhanced the outreach benefits to the community and the educational value to the student team."

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EDITORS: Lysle Sherwin can be reached at 814-865-5736.

Contacts:

Jeff Mulhollem jjm29@psu.edu 814-863-2719 814-865-1068 fax