Harrisburg, PA – The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has released the draft Pennsylvania 2024 Integrated Water Quality Monitoring and Assessment Report for public comment. The report serves as the biennial update on the health of streams and lakes statewide.
DEP has water quality monitoring stations throughout Pennsylvania that record data year-round and help inform DEP’s work to restore waterways when they are not meeting water quality standards. The Shapiro Administration is committed to ensuring every Pennsylvanian has access to clean air and clean water, as guaranteed under the Pennsylvania Constitution.
DEP submits the Integrated Water Quality Report to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the public every two years, as required by the federal Clean Water Act of 1972. Pennsylvania waters are assessed for one or more of four uses—drinking water, fish consumption, aquatic life, and recreational use—and determined to be supporting or impaired. A waterway is classified as “impaired” when it is not meeting water quality standards.
The interactive map in the “2022 to 2024 Changes” section makes it easy for Pennsylvanians to see whether their local lake or stream is supporting or impaired and whether this reflects a change in status over the past two years. With one click, users can see the details on which use (or uses) DEP assessed the waterway for. If it is impaired, they can see both the cause and the source.
For the 2024 report, DEP expanded assessment of waterways, with 7,566 stream miles and 103,777 public lake acres newly assessed or reassessed for a use. The 2024 report also shows water quality restoration, noting that since 2004, approximately 967 miles of streams and 28,727 acres of public lakes have been restored. A color-coded interactive map shows which waterways have been restored for which uses and when.
This report reflects the cumulative assessment of 99 percent (85,030 miles) of stream miles and 99 percent (103,777 acres) of lake acres statewide since Pennsylvania began reporting for the Clean Water Act.
DEP welcomes public comment on the report. Comments can be made online through the DEP eComment system, may be emailed to ecomment@pa.gov, or can be mailed to the DEP Policy Office, Rachel Carson State Office Building, P.O. Box 2063, Harrisburg, PA 17105. All comments must include the commenter’s name and address.
The deadline for public comment is December 11, 2023.
For more information, visit the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection’s website, or follow DEP on Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn.
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