Community Environmental Issue
Mary L. Ripley
University of Phoenix
SCI 275
LaQuoyah McDaniel, MSEM
April 21, 2013
The Lancaster resident requested a study on the Little Cornstoga Creek Basin by the monitoring of the flow of the stream and the habitat restoration. The issue in which they are doing the study for is to improve stream quality and to keep contaminants from reaching ground water used to supply drinking water.
Why is this environmental sustainability issue? The Little Conestoga Creek Basin is in Lancaster County, South-Central Pennsylvania. Agricultural intensity is fairly uniform in the upper and lower basins, where land use is usually greater than 80 percent agriculture (fig. 1, table 1) (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1994). About 90 percent of the Basin is underlain by fractured carbonate bedrock. Carbonate rock weathers easily to create rich topsoil for agriculture and maintains excellent filtration capacities. Contaminants and ground water move quickly through the carbonate bedrock, especially in fractures enlarged by dissolving rock.
Stream water in the Basin is used for irrigation, livestock, and commercial operations; Little Conestoga Creek is not used for public supply. Municipal water systems, which use
water from wells and from the Conestoga and Susquehanna Rivers, serve approximately 83 percent of the residents in the Basin; the remaining 17 percent relies on private wells for drinking water. (http://www.epa.gov/myenvironment, 1998)
Whom does it affect? These environmental issues would affect the Lancaster resident in the area. During the study the Lancaster residents participated in the study by taking part in the training and the snapshot samples. These issues also can affect the livestock, agriculture development, irrigation and commercial operations.
What are the causes of the issue? The cause of the issues were recent findings in the Susquehanna...