Schuylkill River Initiative

In 1996, the Schuylkill River Watershed Initiative was formed to increase communication and collaboration among nonprofit organizations and to promote a long-term vision for the watershed.

With funding from The William Penn Foundation, Wyomissing Foundation, Claneil Foundation, the Pennsylvania Department of Natural Resources (DCNR) and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), the Initiative has involved over 25 nonprofit organizations and representatives from DCNR, DEP and the Philadelphia Water Department.

Managed by The Conservation Fund, the Schuylkill Initiative has been a catalyst for two large-scale projects—the Schuylkill River Conservation Plan and the Report on the State of the Schuylkill Watershed (Report).

The Report is available for download here. Completed in 2002, it is the first attempt in developing indicators to begin to understand the watershed as a whole and how well it is doing. It is intended to serve as a baseline that should be further developed and updated in future years.

Its other primary purpose is to encourage continued collaboration among the participating nonprofit groups and others, to strengthen their individual activities in the watershed. We hope that the report will be of interest to a broad audience of watershed communities, nonprofit organizations, current and prospective funders, and the public at-large—to inspire all activities that will benefit the watershed.

Click here to download the full report.

(This is a 7.8 MB PDF file. Adobe Acrobat is required for download.)