Berks County is set to receive $200,000 in state funding as part of a broader $17.7 million investment aimed at improving water quality across Pennsylvania’s portion of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed.
The funding was announced by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) through its 2026 Countywide Action Plan (CAP) Coordinator and Implementation Grants. The grants support county-led efforts to reduce nutrient and sediment pollution that flows into local streams, rivers, and lakes that ultimately feed the Chesapeake Bay.
The Berks County Conservation District is among 29 county and regional recipients statewide. Projects funded through this grant round may be completed over the next 12 to 24 months and are expected to collectively reduce more than 113,000 pounds of nitrogen, 28,000 pounds of phosphorus, and 11.8 million pounds of sediment annually from entering the bay.
According to DEP, Pennsylvania has significantly accelerated progress toward its clean water goals in recent years, reducing more than 10 times the amount of nitrogen in the past five years than in the previous decade. Monitoring data shows measurable improvements in nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment levels across the watershed.
“Pennsylvania’s clean water successes are rooted in collaboration—state, local, federal, legislative, and non-governmental partners, and of course landowners,” said DEP Secretary Jessica Shirley. “The work will continue to evolve, and our focus will remain on setting our collaborative partnerships up for success well beyond 2025. The momentum is real, and you can see it in our improved water quality.”
Countywide Action Plans are a central part of Pennsylvania’s Chesapeake Bay Phase 3 Watershed Implementation Plan, which emphasizes locally driven solutions supported by state and federal resources. All 34 counties required to develop CAPs are currently implementing them.
Projects supported by CAP funding across the watershed have included stream restoration, streambank tree planting, rain gardens, livestock crossings, and initiatives aimed at removing streams from the state’s list of pollution-impaired waterways by 2030.
The funding announcement comes as Governor Josh Shapiro begins a one-year term as chair of the Chesapeake Executive Council, marking the first time in 20 years that Pennsylvania has led the bipartisan body overseeing restoration efforts for the nation’s largest estuary.
