State Sen. Gene Yaw makes a statement during a meeting in July.

Senate Republicans want to spend $250 million of Pennsylvania’s federal stimulus funding to create a Clean Streams Fund.

Sen. Gene Yaw, R-Bradford/Lycoming/Sullivan/Susquehanna/Union and sponsor of Senate Bill 832, said the state has more than 85,000 miles of rivers and streams — the highest density of any state in the continental United States. He said almost one-third of Pennsylvania’s surface water does not meet state water quality standards for either fish or human health. On a map, these “impaired” waters are depicted as bright red blemishes in every corner of the state.

Republicans want to establish a new fund dedicated to water quality, specifically focused on mitigating “non-point” sources of pollution, such as agricultural runoff and acid mine drainage. Senate Bill 832 has been referred to the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee.

“We now have multiple generations of Pennsylvanians who see a highly polluted orange stream as natural or believe that rain-swollen creeks are supposed to look like chocolate milk,” Yaw said in an op/ed earlier this week along with Sens. Scott Martin and Dan Laughlin, R-Erie. “They’re not. In accepting these polluted waters as normal, Pennsylvania towns and cities pay millions more to treat our drinking water supplies and squander millions of dollars in recreation and economic development opportunities.”

Yaw said in his legislative memorandum that one in seven Pennsylvania jobs are related to agriculture while outdoor recreation in Pennsylvania, including hunting and fishing, generated $26.9 billion in 2016, supporting more than 390,000 jobs.

The Clean Streams Fund would be used for such activities as grassed or forested stream buffers, cover crops, no-till farming, fencing livestock out of streams except for managed crossings, barnyard improvements, improved manure storage, and creating a series of treatment pools that allow sediments and minerals to settle out of the water, buffered by limestone and vegetation, before re-emerging into a free-flowing stream.

“The pandemic has underscored the vital importance of a local food supply, abundant natural resources and accessible outdoor recreation,” the senators wrote in their op/ed. “By using a small part of federal relief funds to shore up the health of these vital industries and grow the economy as a whole, future generations of Pennsylvanians might only know streams that run clean and can be safely enjoyed by everyone.”