HARRISBURG — The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has awarded $24 million to reduce pollution and restore local streams, rivers and lakes in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, including in Potter County.

DEP awarded grants through the 2025 Countywide Action Plan (CAP) Implementation Grants to county teams across Pennsylvania’s share of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed.

The Potter County Conservation District was awarded $200,000.

“These grants have been used to implement everything from streambank tree plantings to livestock crossing installations. Their work benefits not only their communities, but our Commonwealth and beyond,” said DEP Acting Secretary Jessica Shirley. “It’s projects that counties are putting on the ground that are changing the conversation from ‘talking about fixing the Bay’ to ‘fixing the Bay,’ and I’m excited to see the ingenuity and progress made by this year’s grant recipients.”’

Pennsylvania has made historic progress in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. The 2025 CAP Implementation Grant round brought in applications for 205 projects that will be completed in the next 12 to 18 months, resulting in an estimated reduction of nearly 110,000 pounds/year of nitrogen, 42,150 pounds/year of phosphorus, and 11.8 million pounds/year of sediment.