The  Poquessing Pathfinder Online
The Friends of Poquessing Watershed Inc. of Philadelphia and Bucks County
Dedicated to the Conservation and Beautification of the Poquessing Creek and Its Environs

NOTES FROM THE  PRESIDENT
  Dianne Welsh-Retzback

     Because of the master plan workshop scheduled for our March meeting, I thought our members might appreciate a recap of the
Fairmount Park Grant.
    The William Penn Foundation in 1996, to commemorate its 50th anniversary, gave an extraordinary one-time $26.6 million to Philadelphia. This grant is to fund restoration of natural lands including woods, meadows, wetlands and stream banks in seven stream valley parks: Fairmount Park proper (the area around the Schuylkill), Wissahickon Park, Cobbs Creek Park, F.D.R. Park, Tacony Park, Pennypack Park, and Poquessing Park. In addition to providing places for recreation, quiet beauty and habitat for wildlife, stream valley parks are critical to protecting our water
supply. As most of you know, the original land purchases around the Schuylkill in the 1800’s were for the purpose of protecting the watershed. Fairmount Park was just a wonderful secondary plus!
     To implement the five-year grant, the Natural Lands Restoration and Environmental Education Program (NLREEP) was formed. NLREEP’s job has been to focus on identifying and solving the pitiful problems in our parks. NLREEP is also charged with setting up and/or expanding environmental education centers in six parks and developing a master trail plan in the seventh (Poquessing). In addition, NLREEP has to expand community awareness and stewardship in the parks so that the benefits of this five-year project will stay with Philadelphia and flourish.
 Poquessing’s master plan calls for public input. This March meeting is the third workshop. We had one in October which basically was for leaders of park friends groups, police officials and park employees. The second workshop was in November at CCP and many of you attended. This third workshop will help refine many of your earlier recommendations.
     Please take advantage of this opportunity to see your park in the developmental stages — It’s becoming a reality
- someday we will have a real park!
 
 

TIDBITS FROM TONY
 Tony Eisele, Executive Vice President

A recent newspaper article about the workplace referred to employees as being commodities. As pieces of equipment.
When I take my wife to work, she enters through a door that reads - Human Resources.
Apparently this is the new term for Personnel. You know, workers!
Now they are “resources”. The politically correct term.
Which brings me to the point of this article.
By belonging to organizations such as the Friends of Poquessing Watershed, we can change our perspectives. We can
become resourceful humans.
OOPS! Forgot to be P.C. Make that RESOURCEFUL.
 
 
 

DELAWARE RIVER WATERSHED MONITORING CONGRESS
  Suzanne Zlotnick

     On a pleasant Day in October, Dianne Retzback and I attended the Delaware River Watershed Monitoring Congress held at the lovely campus of the Delaware Valley College in Doylestown, Pa. I learned a great deal about the dedicated work of the Delaware Riverkeeper Network and the commitment of the Friends of Poquessing Watershed to the Riverkeeper Network’s water monitoring program. Among the many topics addressed were: stormwater runoff, biological monitoring of watersheds, streambank restoration, and legal tools for citizen action.
     Of particular interest to me was a speaker from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, Division of Water and Watershed Assessment, Stream Biomonitoring Unit. (Say that 10 times fast). He brought small tanks with live critters (macroinvertebrates) from the creeks. He had a very fancy set-up with a magnification and a large viewing screen. I could actually see a mayfly’s gills in action. As I watched in wonder at this strange but fascinating creature, Dianne explained to me that one of the reasons soil erosion is such a problem in the creek is that the particles can clog up aquatic animals gills.
     Other speakers included folks from the Academy of Natural Sciences, Stroud Water Research Center, PA, NJ and NY environmental agencies, and of course, the Riverkeepers. Both volunteers and professionals spoke. The meeting ended with inspirational stories told to the beat of a Native American drum by Michael J. Caduto author of Keepers of the Earth: Native American Stories and Environmental Activities for Children and Pond and Brook, A Guide to Nature in Freshwater Environments.  We were given copies of the latter as a gift for attending the
conference, so please let us know if you wish to read it.
     It did my heart good to be in a place full of so many environmental activists from all over the Delaware Valley
and beyond, just as it does my heart good to be a member of the Friends of Poquessing Watershed. Thanks!!!
 
 

POQUESSING PARTNERS WITH EARTH FORCE EDUCATORS
 Suzanne Zlotnick

      Friends of Poquessing Watershed volunteers, including our president, are partnering with a new Eco-action group in the Philadelphia environmental scene. Earth Force, with help from its national level office, recently opened its doors in the Philadelphia area and began training teachers in Philadelphia and the suburbs to prepare them for the opening of school this past September. We have been working closely with Janet Starwood, who is providing leadership in 20 local schools. The goal of Earth Force is to educate teachers about environmental issues and then guide them through environmental action in their communities.
     During the course of this academic year, Mrs. Shellie Rubin, a 5th grade teacher at the William H. Loesche Elementary School, in our watershed, made a commitment to Earth Force. She received very organized step by step manuals and materials to guide each of her students through environmental activism. After surveying many aspects of the school environment, including recycling, outdoor habitat, and water issues, the students were asked to choose a project. The students voted on water protection activism. Mrs. Rubin invited Poquessing members to help her guide her class through water protection and conservation projects.
     So far, we have done a storm drain tour through the school yard and neighboring playground instructing the children about the hazards of storm drain pollution which flows directly to our creeks when it rains. The children were asked to map the storm drains. They also located the Poquessing Watershed, as well as the Schuylkill and Delaware Rivers on various maps. To further illustrate the problem, we poured water through a model of a storm drain. The children watched as our trash filled model sent polluted water to the pretend creek. The children seemed
very enthusiastic about remedying this problem.
     We have scheduled a tour of the Poquessing Watershed and the Baxter Water Treatment Plant for April, at which time we hope to teach about FOPW’s water monitoring program. We also are planning a visit from Captain Sewer, a storm drain cleanup, and a water bill analysis with the class, incorporating their math skills with conservation education. The children also have been encouraged to telephone and write to environmentalists to invite them to speak to the class.
     Also as part of our partnership, we attended an Earth Force teachers’ meeting at the Schuylkill Valley Nature Center and a full-day Service Learning Conference sponsored by Earth Force and the School District of Philadelphia. The latter had many Delaware Valley Environmental groups in attendance.
     The goal of FOPW to educate our local school children dovetails nicely with the Earth Force program as both of
our groups seek to create educated environmental citizens for the future. We hope that the momentum will build as
we continue our partnership. We look forward to bringing water protection education to more of the public, private
and parochial schools in the Poquessing Watershed. More news to follow....

p.s. The Loesche children have a website -
http://members.tripod.com/earth-force
     Webmaster David Zlotnick
 

WATER, THE RENEWABLE RESOURCE?
  Dr. Robert Palma, Vice President, Environmental Affairs

     Water is considered to be a renewable resource because of the Hydrologic cycle. The Hydrologic cycle recycles water on this planet between the land, the ocean and the atmosphere. The sun and weather plays an important role in this process but man was never factored into the equation. Man interferes with this process because of his massive usage of water.
     Modern man (especially Americans) uses a tremendous amount of water to support his daily lifestyle. The water usage is divided into electrical power generation (cooling) 38%, industrial use 11%, agriculture 41%, and personal household use 10%. All these factors together, each person in the United States uses 1961 gallons of water per day.
     The two measurements of water usage by man are Water Withdrawal which is the volume of water removed from either groundwater or surface water (rivers, lakes, etc.) and transported to where the water is to be used and the other is Water Consumption which is the use of water away from the place where it was removed from and not reusable in its original location.

TALK IS CHEAP — BETTER YET, FREE!

 PA Game Commission has a toll-free number for their southeast regional office
877-877-9470 for calls regarding wildlife and game law violations etc.

 Calls for reservations at state parks etc. should be directed to the Dept. of Conservation and Natural Resources
800-63-PARKS.
 

NORTHEAST VOLUNTEERS ARE WILD  ABOUT WATER!

     For many years, some Northeast residents have been volunteering twice a month, as part of the Delaware Riverkeeper Network, to monitor the waters of the Poquessing and Pennypack Creeks. Since 1988, the non-profit Network has strived to preserve, protect and enhance the Delaware River. Recently, Riverkeeper Fred Stine came to a laboratory classroom at Community College Philadelphia, Northeast, to conduct a water quality assurance session, which was hosted by the Friends of Poquessing Watershed.
     With Fred Stine’s guidance, participants carefully mixed small amounts of chemicals to create seemingly magical reactions which produced color changes in the water. Squinting at the test tubes of multi-colored water, the volunteers learned to properly document pH, nitrogen, oxygen and phosphorous. These parameters are critical in determining stream health. A member of the Friends of Wissahickon Watershed and Andorra Nature Center also attended this training session. This allowed three teams to interact and refine their monitoring skills.
     Dianne Retzback, the president of the Friends of Poquessing Watershed, explains that the volunteers are like “ a townwatch for the creek”. If a problem is discovered, volunteers can alert the Delaware Riverkeeper, the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), and the Water Department. “We have a good relationship with them,” states Retzback.
     The cleanliness of the Poquessing Creek is of particular concern to the citizens of the Northeast. This is because the Poquessing empties into the Delaware River just above the Baxter Water Treatment Plant, which purifies the drinking water for the Northeast section of Philadelphia.
     If you are interested in learning more about this program, please contact: FRIENDS OF POQUESSING WATERSHED at (215) 972-6275. Also the website for the Friends of the Poquessing Watershed is: http://www.friendsofpoquessing.org. The Delaware Riverkeeper Network’s website is http://www.delawareriverkeeper.org.

The above article appeared in the NE Times. Riverkeeper is again conducting this workshop at Community College NE on Monday March 20, 2000 at 7 PM. Hope all the water monitoring team can get together again for this annual event.

Call Donna Remick at (215) 638-3108.
 

FROM THE CREEK’S EDGE
  Jo Edward - Vice President, Ways and Means

     In October, FOPW participated in Boscov’s Stores Third Annual Friends Helping Friends. This day is a fundraiser for non-profit organizations and for the third year a crew of our faithful members donated their time to Boscov’s in Franklin Mills and Neshaminy selling tickets and helping direct shoppers etc.   While our proceeds were not quite as great as last year, we all agreed that we did very well for the few
hours we had to work. It is a fun time and we hope that Boscov’s continues this community activity.