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STORIES OF PROGRESS IN ACHIEVING HEALTHY WATERS
EPA Region 3 Water Protection Division
Terre Hill, PA

ATA GLANCE
•	EPA-funded technical assistance
helps launch outreach effort.
•	Action follows successful farmer
engagement.
Helping Residents Protect Water Sources
Terre Hill, Pa. • January 7, 2016
Building on the successful early engagement of the Plain Sect
agricultural community, the Eastern Lancaster County Source
Water Protection (ELANCO SWP) Collaborative is expanding its
outreach efforts to involve local residents in the important
work of protecting vital drinking water sources for the future.
The ELANCO SWP Collaborative, a pilot project of the National
Source Water Collaborative, leverages public and private partners to
engage the Eastern Lancaster County region in source water
protection through targeted education and outreach. With the
support of EPA-funded technical assistance and dedicated local
champions, the Collaborative launched a Residential Subcommittee
in the fall of 2015.
The newly-established subcommittee will focus on targeting ELANCO
residents in areas found to have high nitrates in groundwater.
Following the success of the already-established Agricultural
Subcommittee, the Residential Subcommittee began its outreach and
education efforts with a family-friendly inaugural event for ELANCO
residents in March 2016.
In early 2013, the ELANCO SWP Collaborative held its inaugural
public outreach event, a workshop focused on agricultural best
management practices to protect drinking water sources. The well-
attended event (over 400 participants) drew mostly Plain Sect farmers
from the ELANCO region.
Promoted by local farmer champions, the event kicked off the
Collaborative's momentum in the agricultural community. Capturing
this momentum, the Collaborative's Agricultural Subcommittee continued to engage the farming
community through innovative farmer-to-farmer outreach and education throughout 2014 and 2015.
Now, with significant buy-in from the agricultural community, the ELANCO SWP Collaborative is
expanding outreach efforts to a residential audience. With technical assistance provided by EPA's Mid-
Atlantic Water Protection Division, the Collaborative worked with the behavior change and marketing
firm Salter>Mitchell to strategize ways to engage local ELANCO residents in source water protection.
The inaugural family-friendly workshop in March introduced best management practices to reduce
residential stormwater runoff and protect drinking water resources. It was sponsored by the Lancaster
Farmland Trust with additional contractor support from EPA's Office of Ground Water and Drinking
Water, and featured programming for adults and children provided by the Lancaster County
Conservancy and Penn State Extension.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
EPA Region 3 Water Protection Division
Philadelphia, PA
For additional information contact:
Megan Keegan, keegan.megan@epa.gov
Office of Drinking Water and Source Water Protection

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