The Schuylkill Watershed Priority Lands Strategy is a model that recognizes the Land-Water Connection and identifies the highest priority lands to protect. The project used GIS modeling to identify areas within the Schuylkill Watershed that are the most important to preserve for both ecological and drinking water source protection, further defined by development threat over the next 20 years.
The process to develop the priority lands tool included the following steps.
Combining Natural Land’s SmartConservation tool and Drinking Water Source prioritization to develop the Combined Priority Lands layer
Then overlaying Future Development projections over the Combined Priority Lands to develop the Areas of Friction layer. Due to file size, the data are not posted here but are available via request from the Partnership for the Delaware Estuary.
Uses Of Model
The data from the Schuylkill Watershed Priority Lands Strategy is designed to be used for a variety of purposes that will result in protection of resources. For example, the Strategy can be used for:
- Updating county or municipal open space plans
- Providing rationale in grant proposals for acquisitions or easements
- During subdivision and site plan review, especially with conservation subdivisions
- Garnering support for a dedicated open space tax or bond
- Upgrading stream status to High or Exceptional Value
- Supporting environmental protection ordinances
- Limiting impervious coverage in combined high resource protection areas & to promote stormwater Best Management Practices
- Promoting good stewardship of Combined Priority Lands
- Integrating local priorities to identify community conservation lands
Project Details
Workgroup: Watershed Land Protection
Source of Funding: Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection
Date of Completion: 2007
General Location: Schuylkill Watershed
Leading Organization: Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission, Natural Lands, Philadelphia Water Department
Cost: