About the Quittapahilla Watershed Association
On Sunday, June 8, 1997, a group of local
citizens gathered in Annville, Pennsylvania to
create the Quittapahilla Watershed Association, a
non-profit organization whose mission was "to
protect and improve the water quality in the
watershed". The group included
conservationists and other local activists who had
established the
Quittie Creek Nature Park in Annville PA in 1991.
(Right: photo of Dave Lasky leading the first meeting of what became the QWA; from the next day's edition of the Lebanon Daily News. For the full story, see the "Archives" pages under "Photos & Images")
Thanks to the Nature Park Committee's efforts, Annville Township turned this 24 acres of woods, wetlands and limestone bluffs into the Quittie Creek Nature Park, preserving the area's natural & cultural history for future generations. After the creation of the Nature Park, the group realized they could not maintain the beauty of the creek flowing through the park without considering the watershed as a whole. Thus was born the Quittapahilla Watershed Association. In 1998, the QWA affiliated with the Swatara Creek Watershed Association, with which it continues to enjoy a close & abiding relationship.
In the quarter-century since its founding, the all-volunteer QWA has undertaken dozens of projects funded by state & federal grants totaling several million dollars. All these projects are summarized on the Projects & Grants page and detailed in the Archives. Yet much work remains. Our mission statement, expanded in verbiage, remains much the same as in 1997: to improve the water quality of Quittapahilla Creek & its tributaries; to raise public awareness about the watershed's importance to the local quality of life and to the Chesapeake Bay watershed; and to encourage citizens, organizations & businesses in Lebanon County to help maintain the health & viability of the watershed's streams & ecosystems.
The QWA was awarded the Governor’s Watershed Stewardship Award in 2001, and the Pennsylvania Association of Conservation Districts Watershed Protection Award in 2002.
Partners of the QWA include
the Lebanon County Planning
Department • Lebanon County Clean Water Alliance •
Lebanon County Stormwater Consortium • Lebanon County Conservation District
• Lebanon Valley
College • Annville-Cleona School District •
Cornwall-Lebanon School District • Lebanon School District
•
Lebanon County Career and Technology Center • Palmyra
School District • Annville Township & Cleona Borough
• Doc Fritchey Trout Unlimited • Swatara Creek Watershed Association
• Hammer Creek
Watershed Association • Quittapahilla Creek Garbage
Museum •
Friends of
Old Annville •
Lebanon Pipeline Awareness
•
Lancaster
Against Pipelines • Pennsy Supply • PA Fish &
Boat Commission • PA-DEP • US Fish & Wildlife
Service • Department of Agriculture • and others.
The QWA gratefully acknowledges the longtime sponsorship of the Lebanon Valley Conservancy, under whose federal non-profit 501c(3) tax umbrella the QWA falls, for purposes of state & federal grants. We are just as grateful to the Doc Fritchey Chapter of Trout Unlimited, which has also generously served as our partner and sponsor in securing and administering grants.
Despite many challenges & against formidable obstacles — including excessive agricultural runoff, urban & industrial waste, a major flood (Tropical Storm Lee in September 2011), and endless flows of rogue plastic garbage — all those involved in the QWA's efforts have worked hard to improve the water quality in Quittie Creek and its tributaries.
For a more extended discussion of those obstacles & challenges, and some of the ways they have been (and are being) addressed, see the Creek Protection and Ongoing Issues pages in the "Photos & Images" section of this website.
For one of our most successul and publicly visible projects, click here for the Streambank Restoration Project of 2014-2016 -- also housed under "Photos & Images" and an exciting transformation of the streambanks in Quittie Creek Nature Park and points downstream.
On Sunday, June 8, 1997, a group of local
citizens gathered in Annville, Pennsylvania to
create the Quittapahilla Watershed Association, a
non-profit organization whose mission was "to
protect and improve the water quality in the
watershed". The group included
conservationists and other local activists who had
established the
Quittie Creek Nature Park in Annville PA in 1991.
(Right: photo of Dave Lasky leading the first meeting of what became the QWA; from the next day's edition of the Lebanon Daily News. For the full story, see the "Archives" pages under "Photos & Images")
Thanks to the Nature Park Committee's efforts, Annville Township turned this 24 acres of woods, wetlands and limestone bluffs into the Quittie Creek Nature Park, preserving the area's natural & cultural history for future generations. After the creation of the Nature Park, the group realized they could not maintain the beauty of the creek flowing through the park without considering the watershed as a whole. Thus was born the Quittapahilla Watershed Association. In 1998, the QWA affiliated with the Swatara Creek Watershed Association, with which it continues to enjoy a close & abiding relationship.
In the quarter-century since its founding, the all-volunteer QWA has undertaken dozens of projects funded by state & federal grants totaling several million dollars. All these projects are summarized on the Projects & Grants page and detailed in the Archives. Yet much work remains. Our mission statement, expanded in verbiage, remains much the same as in 1997: to improve the water quality of Quittapahilla Creek & its tributaries; to raise public awareness about the watershed's importance to the local quality of life and to the Chesapeake Bay watershed; and to encourage citizens, organizations & businesses in Lebanon County to help maintain the health & viability of the watershed's streams & ecosystems.
The QWA was awarded the Governor’s Watershed Stewardship Award in 2001, and the Pennsylvania Association of Conservation Districts Watershed Protection Award in 2002.
Partners of the QWA include
the Lebanon County Planning
Department • Lebanon County Clean Water Alliance •
Lebanon County Stormwater Consortium • Lebanon County Conservation District
• Lebanon Valley
College • Annville-Cleona School District •
Cornwall-Lebanon School District • Lebanon School District
•
Lebanon County Career and Technology Center • Palmyra
School District • Annville Township & Cleona Borough
• Doc Fritchey Trout Unlimited • Swatara Creek Watershed Association
• Hammer Creek
Watershed Association • Quittapahilla Creek Garbage
Museum •
Friends of
Old Annville •
Lebanon Pipeline Awareness
•
Lancaster
Against Pipelines • Pennsy Supply • PA Fish &
Boat Commission • PA-DEP • US Fish & Wildlife
Service • Department of Agriculture • and others.The QWA gratefully acknowledges the longtime sponsorship of the Lebanon Valley Conservancy, under whose federal non-profit 501c(3) tax umbrella the QWA falls, for purposes of state & federal grants. We are just as grateful to the Doc Fritchey Chapter of Trout Unlimited, which has also generously served as our partner and sponsor in securing and administering grants.
Despite many challenges & against formidable obstacles — including excessive agricultural runoff, urban & industrial waste, a major flood (Tropical Storm Lee in September 2011), and endless flows of rogue plastic garbage — all those involved in the QWA's efforts have worked hard to improve the water quality in Quittie Creek and its tributaries.
For a more extended discussion of those obstacles & challenges, and some of the ways they have been (and are being) addressed, see the Creek Protection and Ongoing Issues pages in the "Photos & Images" section of this website.
For one of our most successul and publicly visible projects, click here for the Streambank Restoration Project of 2014-2016 -- also housed under "Photos & Images" and an exciting transformation of the streambanks in Quittie Creek Nature Park and points downstream.