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Upper Makefield Townsihp

BUCKS COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

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You Are Here: Website Home / General Information / 2005 Open Space Plan and Goals & Objectives

2005 Two Top Priority Goals

Watershed Protection

As Upper Makefield has become an increasingly desirable location to live, the pressure to convert farmland to residential use has increased. Working with the Bucks County Farmland Preservation program and Heritage Conservancy, Upper Makefield has preserved several large tracts of farmland. Other properties are in the process of being preserved. It is hoped that all remaining large tracts (>50 ac.) can be preserved.

Watershed protection has become an increasingly important issue. In 1998, water quality and quantity were the critical issues. Since Upper Makefield does not have public water and sewer, it is very important to insure that there will be sufficient groundwater recharge to satisfy the community's needs. The best way to protect drinking water supplies and surface water quality is to protect the lands that surround our reservoirs, streams and aquifer recharge areas. As in 1998, the township does not have specific laws or regulations which will permanently protect extensive watershed or recharge lands from development. The township has enacted a riparian buffer protection ordinance to protect lands adjacent to streams. The direct and indirect pollution from buildings, parking lots, storm sewers, lawn chemicals, etc., can degrade ground and surface water quality. The destruction of wetlands and impingement on floodplains, which provide a natural filter of run-off, further degrade our natural resources. Unless the lands that provide groundwater recharge or surround water supplies are permanently protected, the natural resources will be degraded by development.

Stormwater management has also become a critical issue in the township. Within the township, Hough's Creek and Jericho Creek have repeatedly flooded and caused major impact to properties along their banks. While the causes certainly extend well beyond the township, two large events that caused major flooding along the Delaware River and Delaware Canal impacted the township within the last year. Even though the township has adopted a riparian buffer ordinance to protect its waterways, additional protection along the streams is a major priority.

Objective:
The EAC recommends continuing to preserve the remaining farmland in an effort to establish a critical mass of preserved farmland to assure the sustainability of agriculture in the township and to maintain adequate groundwater recharge, and assuring the future of agricultural activities in the Township.

The EAC recommends protection of lands that provide flood control, filtration of surface water, groundwater recharge, and lands surrounding the headwaters and water?supply streams as a top priority of the open space plan.

Actions taken to date:
Several of the properties preserved since 1998 include significant riparian corridors. These include: within the Pidcock Creek Watershed, the Magill property, the Reese property, and the Ryan property; within the Jericho Creek Watershed, the Heinicke property, the Schleyer property, the Baldwin property, the Buckman property and the Thorpe property; within the Hough's Creek Watershed, the Russell property; and, the Rapuano property that is part the watershed of an unnamed tributary that now empties into the Delaware Canal

The township, through representation of EAC members, is participating in the recently formed Pidcock Creek Watershed Association's efforts along that stream. The EAC has also begun meeting quarterly with a group of area EACs to discuss and develop plans for addressing regional environmental issues, including stormwater management and ground water recharge.

Farmland Preservation

As Upper Makefield has become an increasingly desirable location to live, the pressure to convert farmland to residential use has increased. Working with the Bucks County Farmland Preservation program and Heritage Conservancy, Upper Makefield has preserved several large tracts of farmland. Other properties are in the process of being preserved. See map for complete list of preserved farms

Objective:
The EAC recommends continuing to preserve the remaining farmland in an effort to establish a critical mass of preserved farmland to assure the sustainability of agriculture in the township and to maintain adequate groundwater recharge, and assuring the future of agricultural activities in the Township.

Actions taken to date:
Upper Makefield has been extremely successful in preserving farmland. Prior to 1998, approximately 230 acres of land was preserved under the Bucks County Agricultural Program. To date, over 1,450 acres of the almost 1,800 acres of preserved land in the township, can be described as primarily farmland has been preserved.

See map of preserved lands