EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Schuylkill Watershed Priority Lands Strategy is a new model that recognizes the Land-Water Connection and identifies the highest priority lands to protect.  The project uses GIS modeling to identify areas within the Schuylkill Watershed that are the most important to preserve for both ecological and drinking water source protection, further defined by development threat over the next 20 years:

Schuylkill Watershed = 1,222,000 acres
Developed Lands = 163,000 acres (13%)
Protected Lands = 191,000 acres (16%)
High Priority Resource Protection Areas = 172,000 acres (14%)
Future Development Areas = 66,000 acres (5%)
Areas of Friction = 6,300 acres (0.5%)

Because developed land in the Schuylkill Watershed is expected to increase by 40% over the next two decades, this strategy can be used to direct inappropriate uses away from high priority resources areas to help promote a lean and healthy ecosystem.  The model is a series of maps that can be viewed on-line through your browser, or can be downloaded in GIS for further analysis.