Lackawanna River Corridor Association

The Lackawanna River Corridor Association (LRCA) conducted two public meetings to receive comments from the public regarding the Lackawanna River and its watershed. These public meetings are part of the work to update the Lackawanna River Conservation Plan being developed by the Lackawanna River Corridor Association in partnership with local counties and municipalities. The plan will identify public concerns and interests in projects to conserve, protect, and improve the Lackawanna River, its tributary streams and watershed resources. The LRCA is especially interested in receiving comments from river corridor and watershed stakeholders. If you can answer yes to any of these questions, you should share your ideas or concerns about issues affecting the river's resources with the LRCA:

Do you use the river or watershed for recreation, hunting, fishing, hiking, bicycling or canoeing?
Do you own property along the river, one of its over 60 tributary streams or lands within the 350 square mile area of its watershed?
Do you have a business that is dependent on or affected by the river or its watershed lands?
Are you concerned about water pollution affecting your water supply or your use of the river?
Are you an elected official or do you serve as an appointed official on a municipal board or commission?
Would you like to see the Lackawanna River Heritage Trail developed more quickly?
Do you have ideas for specific conservation or mine reclamation projects along a particular reach of river or stream on your property or in your municipality?
Are you concerned about the future use of thousands of acres of forests, wetlands, ridge tops, natural and scenic resource areas in our local watershed?
Would you like to find out what you can do, working with the LRCA to help turn your river conservation ideas into reality?
Are you concerned about how the river and its watershed can contribute more to your quality of life and that of your children and grandchildren?

If you answered yes to more than one of these questions you owe it to yourself to contact the LRCA.

Following a virtual Lackawanna River and Watershed Tour, LRCA volunteers and staff presented a Power Point discussion of five specific issue areas affecting the watershed during these public meetings:

Lackawanna River Heritage Trail, recreation, tourism, economic development and Keystone Opportunity Zones (KOZ's)

Mine Reclamation, acid mine drainage (AMD), Growing Greener, and Brownfields.

Water Quality and environmental protection, combined sewer outfalls (CSO's), erosion, non-point pollution and stormwater.

Storm Water and Flood Control , levees, habitat loss and mitigation, recreation impacts, stormwater and flood plain management.

Land Conservation and Watershed Protection, open space, natural areas, land conservancies and timber management

The complete document will be presented to the county commissioners of Wayne, Susquehanna, Lackawanna and Luzerne counties and to the elected councils and supervisors of the over thirty cities, boroughs, and townships in our watershed. We will request that each elected body consider adopting the plan to help direct their policies and programs for the river, tributary streams, and watershed lands. Following adoption by a majority of municipalities, LRCA will forward the plan to the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Office of River Conservation, requesting that the Lackawanna River be included on the Pennsylvania Rivers Conservation Registry. Registry status does not add any new layer of regulations to the river; it does make the projects and programs we recommend in the Lackawanna River Conservation Plan eligible for project implementation grants on a 50/50 basis. It is our goal that this plan help to direct our communities work during the next ten years along the Lackawanna River.

The Lackawanna River Watershed Conservation Plan is supported with funding provided by the Scranton Area Foundation, the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation's Chesapeake Bay Small Watersheds Grant Program, and the membership of the Lackawanna River Corridor Association.

Give us a call at (570)207-7608 or email us at lrca@epix.net for more information about the public meetings or the Lackawanna River Watershed Conservation Plan.