Pennsylvania is home to hundreds of community-based watershed organizations (CWOs). Most are small, non-profits with limited annual budgets and few or no professional staff supported by active and passionate volunteers, represented in all regions of the state from the Ohio River Basin to the Delaware River Basin.
Each year, thousands of volunteers affiliated with these groups serve as the eyes on the resource, the hands in the stewardship effort, and the voices for continued protection and restoration.
Across our state, CWOs have organized stream and illegal dump cleanups, planted miles of riparian buffers, facilitated the remediation of streams impacted by abandoned mine drainage, and accomplished outreach to thousands of residents. Many CWOs manage citizen water quality monitoring programs, collecting data that help residents and municipal officials understand impacts from their actions on water quality.