Reducing stormwater runoff, reducing water pollution, conserving water, and supporting wildlife and pollinators
are critical elements of healthy, watershed-friendly properties. This program offers guidance and resources,
and allows property owners to fill out a simple online application to qualify for watershed-friendly property certification.

Watershed-Friendly Property Certification recognizes landowners who incorporate
best practices in managing and protecting water resources and provide habitat for wildlife
and pollinators on their property. In addition, the certification recognizes landowners
who make a commitment to minimize their potential impact on water quality by using less harmful chemicals,
and who maintain good housekeeping of their property.

Qualifying applicants will receive a certificate, a free window or door decal, and the opportunity to order a property sign for a minimal cost.

Property Certification

Urban/Small Lot or Apartment

Properties less than 10,500 square feet or apartment dwellers 

Rural/Suburban Mid-sized Property

Properties between .25 acres – 15 acres 

Large Property

Properties over 15 acres 


What is a Watershed?

A watershed is a region of land and water that ultimately flows to a certain large body of water based on the geography of the land. Watersheds come in all different sizes and are sometimes called different names. Your local subwatershed joins other subwatersheds to flow into a larger watershed, and larger watersheds will flow into major watersheds, sometimes called basins. Pennsylvania has six major watersheds or basins – Erie, Ohio, Potomac, Susquehanna, Genesee, and Delaware. Your local watershed is also part of the water and land that make up these major watersheds and water that you see near your home will eventually reach the large body of water into which the major watershed drains.  

Everyone lives in a watershed, and every landowner has a responsibility to ensure the water that runs off or filters through their property and community flows as slowly as possible and enters local waterways as clean as possible. 

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Inspiration

Watershed-friendly Projects
Rain Gardens

Rain Gardens

Improve water quality

Designed as shallow depressions, rain gardens filter out pollutants such as fertilizers, oil, grease, sediment, and pesticides while recharging groundwater reserves.

Rain Barrels

Rain Barrels

A Great Water-Saving Devices

The roof of a 1,000-square-foot house can collect around 600 gallons per one inch of rain—that’s enough free water to fill more than 15 bathtubs!

Streamside Buffers

Streamside Buffers

There's more to a healthy stream

Taking good care of a stream means taking good care of the land around it. Vegetated buffers provide many benefits including flood and erosion control, cool and clean water, clean air, and wildlife habitat.

A Collaboration Between

Penn State Extension Master Watershed Stewards and the Nurture Nature Center

Penn State Extension Master Watershed Stewards Program

Penn State Extension

Strengthening local capacity for management and protection of watersheds, streams, and rivers, by educating and empowering volunteers across the commonwealth.

Nurture Nature Center

Easton, PA

Building community resiliency to environmental risk by leveraging the power of informal science education, art-centered approaches to learning, and community dialogue and networking.

Additional funding to update the Watershed-friendly PA Certification and accompanying resources to include Pennsylvania's Fertilizer Law was provided by the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture.

Contact a Master Watershed Steward