Congratulations to the Schuylkill Action Network (SAN) for being one of the recipients of the 2013 Pennsylvania Governor's Award for Environmental Excellence! Awards are granted each year by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP) and highlight the best in environmental innovation and expertise throughout the Commonwealth. The awards will be presented on Wednesday, April 17, 2013 at the Harrisburg Hilton, Harrisburg, Pa. at 5 p.m. The keynote speaker will be Richard Allan, Secretary of the Pa. Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR). For additional details on the awards ceremony, including a complete list of recipients, please click here. 

SAN is being honored for its source water protection initiative, which serves as a national model for collaborative watershed restoration and protection and helps to protect drinking water for over 2 Million people. Celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2013, SAN was formed with the primary objectives of improving the health of the watershed, increasing public awareness and value of the watershed, and ensuring safe drinking water supplies for watershed residents. Members include the Partnership for the Delaware Estuary (PDE), the Philadelphia Water Department (PWD), PADEP, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region III, and the DRBC. 

Since 2003, SAN has worked in partnership with state agencies, local watershed organizations, land conservancies, businesses, academics, water suppliers, local and state governments, regional agencies, and the federal government to achieve a shared vision of a clean and healthy Schuylkill River Watershed, the largest tributary to the Delaware River. The SAN accomplishes this through 6 different issue-specific workgroups organized around abandoned mine drainage, agriculture pollution, stormwater runoff, pathogens, land protection, and education & outreach. Each group, comprised of key practitioners in those fields and with local connections to the issues, meets quarterly to share information and resources, prioritize source water protection work, and discuss how to acquire the resources needed to implement such projects.

Representatives from PDE will accept the award on SAN's behalf on April 17.