Environmental Stewardship Fund (ESF) investments have made the Lititz Run W
atershed Alliance (LRWA) a catalyst for change in the community. In 1999 LRWA was awarded its first ESF grant to conduct a riparian buffer establishment project on a tributary stream to Lititz Run.
The Wynfield project was situated on the Santo Domingo Creek tributary and surrounded by predominately corporate owners. LRWA worked with local landowners to convert nearly five acres of floodplain into a riparian buffer and wetland meadows. The Watershed Alliance knew this project had the potential to stimulate further projects throughout the watershed because of its highly visible location.
In coordination with property owners, the township, an environmental engineering firm, and local volunteers, the project was completed in 2000. Over 1,300 trees and shrubs were planted in the riparian buffer area and over 3,000 wetland plant plugs were planted in adjacent wet meadows. Today these plantings are thriving and create habitat where before none existed.
This project was only the beginning for LRWA and its close relationship with ESF funding. More projects followed, including a complete stream restoration and relocation project on 2,500 feet of Lititz Run and a stormwater best management practice demonstration area at the Warwick Township municipal campus.
