Five Bucks County townships have formalized a partnership to protect the Neshaminy watershed. Buckingham, Doylestown, New Britain, Warrington and Middletown will pool resources to pursue grants and meet federal stormwater mandates none of them can afford to handle alone.
The five municipalities, along with the Neshaminy Watershed Association and the Bucks County Conservation District, signed a Memorandum of Agreement in June 2026 creating the Neshaminy Collaborative, according to a Doylestown Township announcement. The group held its first meeting on Aug. 20.
The partnership grew out of the Neshaminy Consortium, a looser effort that began in 2023. The Watershed Association and Conservation District identified the need for better coordination across the 29 municipalities sharing the watershed, the Bucks County Herald reported. A pilot steering committee formed in 2024 and met throughout 2025, narrowing its focus to Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) requirements, the federal Clean Water Act program that regulates stormwater runoff.
Officials told the Herald that limited staff and funding make it difficult for individual municipalities to meet those unfunded mandates on their own. When the consortium was proposed, organizers estimated the cost at $850 per township per year.
The steering committee settled on four priorities: facilitated collaboration, grant support, education and resident involvement. Doylestown Township said the collaborative will let towns apply for grants as a group, share what works across all five municipalities and create one set of public education materials instead of five.
Warrington's path to the table started in February 2026, when Karen Ogden of the Conservation District and Ken Jones, president of the Watershed Association, presented the regional proposal to the Warrington Board of Supervisors. The board approved Resolution 2026-R-05 supporting participation with no opposition, according to the Herald's February coverage.
Michael Diorka spoke at that meeting about flooding tied to the watershed. "The water comes down from Montgomery County. The flooding that goes on from Bradford Dam is phenomenal," Diorka said, urging the group to develop a plan for the Bradford Dam area.
In Buckingham, the Board of Supervisors voted unanimously on June 24 to approve the Memorandum of Agreement, according to meeting minutes. Chairman Maggie Rash made the motion, seconded by member Mike Bateman. The motion carried unanimously. Rash said at the meeting that the township's Environmental Advisory Commission had discussed the agreement and supported it so the township could apply for watershed protection grants.
Doylestown Township said the collaborative costs residents nothing extra and is about getting more done with what the townships already spend.
Warrington already has a track record of watershed work. Fred Suffian, chair of the Warrington Township Environmental Advisory Council, told the Bucks County Herald in September that the council has naturalized roughly 10 stormwater basins and planted more than 2,000 trees over the past two decades.
The collaborative plans to organize stream cleanups, tree plantings and other volunteer events open to residents across all five townships.
