WEST CHESTER — Caught on the defensive after the release of a federal report indicating poor water quality in some Chester County streams, county commissioners pledged yesterday to increase efforts to improve stream water.
At the weekly commissioners' meeting, county water authority officials gave a sobering overview of stream water health in a county known for its commitment to conservation.
In Chester County, 276 of 1,300 total miles - about 21 percent - of streams do not meet state water quality standards, officials said. Many of those streams, which are in southern Chester County, Honey Brook, and greater West Chester, are high in bacteria and pesticides from agriculture and housing construction, officials said.
