MARK YOUR CALENDAR --

Engineers' Workshop:

Keeping Up...

Keeping ahead

This same, one-day workshop will be offered twice:

Thursday, March 4

Friday, March 5

Choose the date that best fits your schedule.

Registration = 8:00 a.m.

Workshop = 8:30 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Fred Rogers Center, Saint Vincent College, Latrobe

Get up-to-the-minute information on:

• application revisions
• best management practice recommendations
• regulations
• permit renewal changes.

Get insights into

• emerging legal issues
• design trends
• and state erosion- and sediment-control directives.

Registration = 8:00 a.m.

Workshop = 8:30 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Fred Rogers Center, Saint Vincent College, Latrobe

$50, includes materials, breakfast, and lunch.

Space is limited and registration is required

by February 25.

Click the link below to register and pay online

https://wcd.wufoo.com/forms/engineers-workshop-2010/

Click here to download a PDF of the Engineers' Workshop flyer to register by mail and pay by check

Upcoming 2010

Education Progams

Stormwater Management for Homeowners

Tuesday, February 23

Click here for more information and to register

(Note: This course will be offered again on March 30)

Buying & Selling Homes: A Rural Perspective

Thursday, March 18

Click here for more infomation and to register

Stormwater Management for Homeowners

Tuesday, March 30

Click here for more information and to register

Pond Management Workshop

Saturday, April 24

9:30 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.

Location – TBA

Watch for more information.

Envirothon

Monday, May 3

8:30 a.m. - 2:30 p.m.

Twin Lakes Park, Greensburg

This academic competition for high school students tests their understanding of the environment and their role in it.

Click here for more details on the above workshops and events

ALSO WATCH FOR MORE INFORMATION ON...

• Teacher Workshops (July)
• Bus tour to seasonal rotational grazing farm (September)
• Sustainable Energy Days (October)

Questions about Floodplains or

Flood insurance?

Click here for

information, resources, and District contact information

Flood damage to a home by Brush Creek, Grapeville, PA June 2009

About 5% of the land in Westmoreland County

is designated by the federal government to be in

the “100-year floodplain. ”This means that these places are expected to be flooded during a

very large storm.

Photo USDA

Typical Best Management Practices for

Construction Sites

An easy to use guide by the Westmoreland Conservation District

For a downloadable PDF version click here

New Field Guide Looks at Aquatic Plants

Duckweed or Pennywort?  If you’re unsure about aquatic plants, a new pocket-size guide can help.

“A Field Guide to Common Aquatic Plants of Pennsylvania” details more than 40 common plants found in ponds and waterways, offering a written description, drawing, and photograph for each.

It flags invasive as well as endangered species and cautions that trying to mechanically control some plants can actually make them become more of a problem if they reproduce quickly when broken apart.

View a PDF here, or purchase a hard copy through the Penn State Cooperative Extension Westmoreland County, 214 Donohoe Road, Suite E, Greensburg, PA 15601.   Copies are $11; mail orders, add $2.00 shipping.

Money Is available For A Variety of Conservation Efforts...

...for Forest Management Plans,

Practices

If your timber harvest is on hold, waiting for the economy to recover, why not use this time to develop a forest management plan for your woodlot?

A forest management plan can ultimately make your timber more valuable by improving the health and quality of

your woodlot, and insuring its long-term sustainability.

Our forester, Tony Quadro, can develop several kinds of plans for your site:

• a brief, forest management plan that provides general recommendations, based on a one-time visit to your site (this plan is free-of-charge), or
• a formal Forest Stewardship Plan, with more details and specific recommendations for your site (although there is a charge for this plan, money is available to cover the majority of its cost). MORE...

...for nutrient management plans

Beef, dairy, swine, and poultry farmers as well as horse boarders, horse-barn owners, and stable managers can apply for new federal funds that will be awarded on a first-come, first-served basis.

The money can be used for:

• a confidential on-site review of your land (done by one of the planners contracted under this program), and/or
• a detailed plan for managing your operation’s nutrients, including recommendations of the best-management practices most relevant to your particular operation.

Dan Griffith, our nutrient management specialist/agricultural conservation technician, can tell you more (dan@wcdpa.com or 724-837-5271).

You can also visit http://livestock.rti.org. To sign up, select the button on the left side of the page that says: Sign Up for Farm Assessment.

...for Farm Air-Quality Improvements

If you are interested in making air-quality improvements on your farm, the EQIP program has funding available.

Incentive payments and cost-share monies are available for a number of practices and activities, including:

• No- and mulch-till
• Manure separators and abatement
• Composting facilities
• Windbreak establishment around livestock and poultry facilties.

This program has periodic cutoff dates, so don’t delay.

For more information, contact Dan Griffith, dan@wcdpa.com, 724-837-5271.

Visit the new Westmoreland woodlands improvement association website

The association recognizes woodlands as a renewable resource, and encourages their management for timber, water quality and control, wildlife habitat, plant propagation and recreation.

Click here

Tech Corner

Municipal officials and engineers, please note:

Potential problems with

Plastic Outfall Pipe

During routine inspections, our Erosion Control Specialist Chris Droste uncovered what may be a widespread problem in sediment basins and detention ponds with plastic outfall pipes leaking.

More...

When heavy rains and flooding wash out gravel driveways and private roads

Here are some tips to help with repairs…and to help prevent repeat problems in the future.

Know where the flow is coming from…and take the necessary steps to get the water off your driveway or road

If water is running down your driveway or road, you can add waterbars to help direct the water off the road and into the nearby terrain.  

More...