Buffalo Creek Watershed Conservation Plan

The Buffalo Creek Watershed Conservation Project is one element of ASWP's large Buffalo Creek Watershed Initiative. The Buffalo Creek Watershed drains 171 square miles of eastern Butler County, western Armstrong County, and extreme northeast Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. It includes portions of 15 townships and four boroughs.

Recently, Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania sponsored a river conservation plan (RCP) for the Buffalo Creek Valley. The plan was produced with input from active organizations within the watershed as well as many watershed residents. Its purpose is to guide future citizen efforts. ASWP is working to form a watershed association of stakeholders, residents, and other interested groups.

While many of the items in the plan are conservation-oriented, others are not. Anyone in the Buffalo Creek Valley who is interested in agriculture, tourism, or municipal development will find things in the plan that speak to their interests. One of the goals in writing a conservation plan is to earn a listing on the Pennsylvania River Registry. Plans contain action items, or recommendations, and when plans are adopted by the river registry, communities have greater access to state and federal resources to implement the action items recommended in the plan. The plan will help fund water conservation initiatives, invasive species eradication, recreational improvements to the creek, sustainable agriculture development and promotion, and tourism initiatives within the watershed.

Although the river conservation plan is complete, the process of implementation is just beginning, and continued stakeholder participation is crucial to the plan's success. For additional information regarding the conservation plan, please contact Brian Shema 412-963-6100 or bshema@aswp.org.

Click on the image above to download the complete Buffalo Creek Watershed Conservation Plan.