PRC and partners will receive $244,475 from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to support watershed restoration and protection projects in southeastern Pennsylvania. PRC will work in partnership with the Eastern Delaware County Stormwater Collaborative (EDCSC), Darby Creek Valley Association (DCVA), the Friends of the Heinz Refuge, the Hav-A-Rain Garden Program and the Upper Darby Rain Garden Program to implement the Growing Greener Communities program in the Darby Creek Watershed.
Project plans include constructing 75 new rain gardens and bioswales, planting 200 trees and installing 20 flow-through planters to capture more than 6 million gallons of stormwater annually.
“These projects are strategically located to impact both upstream and downstream in the watershed and involve areas that are typically underserved and disproportionately suffer from flooding and stormwater runoff,” explained PRC Eastern Program Director Diana Andrejczak. “The grant funding will enable us to launch an apprenticeship program to expand programs into new communities and to create a guidance-based website to enable other organizations to access a replicable model for use in starting their own watershed programs.”
The Growing Greener Communities program is one of 14 projects in Southeast Pennsylvania to receive a 2022 Growing Greener grant.
“Growing Greener is the single largest investment of state funds that goes directly towards addressing critical environmental concerns of the 21st century,” said DEP Southeast Regional Director Pat Patterson. “As we continue to see the impacts of climate change, it is imperative that we use funds to invest in, protect, and restore our watersheds.”
CLICK HERE for more information concerning the Growing Greener grant program.