Dr. David DeWalle tests the waters at Spring Creek Park. Dave Shelly--Campus Photography

Water issues have always been important to Loretta Jeffreys. Her children grew up drinking from a well at their home in Houserville, and her new house in Huntingdon County also will have a well. To learn more about how to ensure that her family has high-quality drinking water, she signed up for the Penn State Master Well Owner Network, which provides expert information on all aspects of water quality and well management. Network instructors train volunteers during a free one-day workshop, then participants teach others in their communities.

Because there are no statewide regulations on wells, well owners need the kind of education that this network provides, said Jeffreys.

After taking the class, said Jeffreys, "I've become more conscious of the best ways to dig a new well for the house I'm building. I feel like I've become a better watchdog for my family."

The Master Well Owner Network is only one of numerous University initiatives to protect and improve the state's water systems. These outreach activities address not only individual and home water supplies, but also broader environmental issues, explained Dr. David DeWalle, professor of forest hydrology and associate director of the Penn State Institutes of the Environment and director of the Pennsylvania Water Resources Research Center, which sponsor the initiatives.

DeWalle, who recently testified before the state legislature on the Institutes' research and outreach initiatives, explained, "We support innovative ideas of faculty across the state, and we especially like projects that involve a lot of students."

Recent activities include treating areas contaminated by acid discharge and acid rain. One example is Mosquito Creek in north central Pennsylvania. The creek runs through a recreational area where elk roam.

The Institutes also find creative ways to treat wastewater. For instance, Dr. Yuefeng Xie, associate professor of environmental engineering at Penn State Harrisburg, Capital College, has developed a treatment process using ground-up rubber tires as a filtering medium.

And DeWalle has teamed up with graduate student Anthony Buda to develop a method to trace sources of excess nitrate in streams that could lead to ways to reduce the contaminant.

Other projects range from providing treatment plans to watershed areas to tracking improvements resulting from the Clean Air and Clean Water acts. "Our activities are adapted to the needs and problems of this state," said DeWalle.

Cooperative Extension board member Kent Strock is helping to work out an action plan for Cumberland County agriculture.

A group of Cumberland County farmers and Cooperative Extension educators first met a couple of years ago to consider the future of agriculture in the community. Other interested residents joined in, helping to take part in a survey designed to determine farmers' expectations for the future. Extension staff at the Penn State University Park campus helped analyze the survey, and volunteers attended a retreat to set up an action plan based on the results.

Cumberland County was the first to reap the benefits of "The Future of Agriculture in Our Community," a program developed by Penn State Professor of Agricultural Economics Dr. Tim Kelsey and Extension educator Tim Collins that aims to bring the community together to understand and address the challenges facing farmers.

"The program is county specific and grassroots driven," says Nina Redding, senior extension educator in Cumberland County.

The action plan in Cumberland County includes marketing local produce to the county's residents and businesses and educating the public on farming within the county.

"We don't tell people what to do. Local people are empowered to identify priorities and issues, and they decide how to respond," said Kelsey. Extension educators also have brought the program to York County, and residents in Westmoreland County can take advantage of the program this fall.

A computer program analyzes a landowner's decisions. This depiction shows the effects of treatment during timber production.

Charles Finkbiner of Newfoundland, Pa., knows exactly what's in his 185 acres of woods and how they are going to look over time, thanks to a software program offered by Penn State that provides graphic depictions of forests.

Finkbiner learned how to use the program through a seminar for Pennsylvania landowners led by Penn State Professor of Forest Resources Dr. James Finley.

"We want to educate private landowners about the benefits of careful planning," Finley said.

Finley modified 3-D software originally developed by the U.S. Forest Service and the University of Washington by simplifying the data input, making the program more accessible to private landowners and other users. He then made it available as a free download and, with graduate student Paul Roth, offers demonstrations on the program throughout the state.

Last spring, Unimark Plastics of Reedsville invited a group of Penn State students to assess its facilities and come up with recommendations that could help it become more energy efficient and save money.

The students made a number of recommendations for the company, including switching to more energy-efficient lights and controlling thermostats on the air conditioning unit to prevent unauthorized changes.

The project was the result of a collaboration developed last year between Penn State's Small Business Development Center's Environmental Management Assistance Program--which provides assistance to businesses in Centre and Mifflin counties--and Dr. Sarma Pisupati, associate professor of energy and geo-environmental engineering, who teaches an energy conservation and environmental protection course.

Pisupati plans to take his students to other companies throughout the fall and spring.