The eighth annual Lancaster Water Week will include more than 60 events hosted by a variety of partners from June 7 to Saturday, June 15, providing opportunities to learn about and explore Lancaster County's waterways and to act to protect them. The schedule of events includes a public art installation in downtown Lancaster, wetland tours at Long's Park, paddles on the Conestoga and Susquehanna rivers, workshops at the Lancaster Science Factory, trivia, creek stomps, tours of restoration and rewilding efforts, and volunteer cleanups.

Lancaster Water Week celebrates the 1,400 miles of streams and rivers in Lancaster County. These waterways are the source of residents' drinking water, drive economic and agricultural growth, and allow people to escape into nature to fish, paddle, and swim. More than half of these streams and rivers are polluted, but the community is taking action to restore its waterways to full health.

The theme of this year's Water Week is "Rewilding for Clean Water." Rewilding is about conserving, restoring, expanding, and connecting natural spaces to help protect waterways, wildlife, and the community. Replacing lawn with native trees, shrubs, and flowers and replanting forested buffers along streams at farms or corporate campuses are examples of rewilding that will be celebrated during Water Week.

Water Week participants may take a bike tour of the City of Lancaster's rain gardens, bike lanes, and tree canopy, which are examples of rewilding in urban areas. The City of Lancaster will also host tours of the wetland restoration project at Long's Park.

Native trees and plants soak up and filter stormwater runoff, protecting the quality of streams and rivers while providing food and shelter for wildlife. For this reason, throughout Water Week, the Lancaster Conservancy and the Keystone 10 Million Trees Partnership will offer free native trees, shrubs, and wildflower seeds. Trees, shrubs, and wildflower seeds will be available throughout the week at Penn Square in Lancaster city as well as at events such as the Long's Park Summer Music Series while supplies last.

For more information and to register for events, visit http://www.lancasterwaterweek.org.