Want to know what is going on in the watershed world this month?
Upcoming Events and Current Happenings to Share
April 3rd 2024
Bushkill Stream Conservancy:
- There will be a 90 minute walk and talk along the Bushkill Creek, on May 11th departing from the Mill Race Park Pavilion at 9am.
Cook’s Creek Watershed Association:
- April 6th Spring Road Cleanup will be 9am-4pm at Springtown Fire Company. There will be Coffee, donuts, and chili for lunch.
- April 25th will the the annual member meeting at 7:30 at the Springtown Fire Company
- June 15th will be the Mini Monster Mayhem from 9:30 to Noon at Scott Douglas’ home, 3450 Rt 212, in Springtown.
Monocacy Creek Watershed Association:
- They now have second generation plantings in riparian buffer areas, originally harvested from live stakes planted in prior years. The cost savings are helpful, but it is also an advantage to not have to make live stakes survive the shipping process
- The annual spring cleanup at the Burnside Plantation will be on Saturday, April 13th, from 9 to 11:30am. Trash bags and gloves will be provided. They will cleanup upstream and downstream of Burnside, and there is lots of trash to clean up.
- Monocacy Park Day will be Saturday, May 11th, from 10am to 1pm at Illick’s Mill. There will be kid’s activities, fly-fishing demos, a native plant sale, refreshments, a rain barrel workshop, and other activities. More information is on their facebook page.
Fry’s Run Watershed Association:
- Adopt a highway cleanup is April 14th, at 10am
- They are working on their booth activities for Cook’s Creek 50th Jubilee
- They’re working on plans for their fall Family Fun event
- Water testing will happen soon, dates TBD
- There will be a property preserved near the Fry’s Run headwaters, the deal is closing next week
Bertsch Hokendauqua Catasauqua Watershed Association:
- They are working with Hokey Trout Unlimited for the yearly Earth Day Clean-up in Northampton on April 27th.
- Two rain barrel workshops coming up, one on May 11th with Monocacy Park, one on May 25th in Walnutport.
- The pussy willow harvest from Hokey Park was successful
- Upcoming plantings for new Walnutport Education walking path site.
- There will be a native plants TapTalk at Portch Tea in Emmaus on May 19th.
Saucon Creek Watershed Association:
- Road and creek cleanup is scheduled for April 13th
- The April meeting will be April 18th
- They plan to work on the Lower Saucon Township Native Plant Garden in late April or Early May
- The Greenways Coopersburg Grant will be chosen and announced in April
- They will attend the Cook’s Creek 50th anniversary Jubilee on July 13th
- They will attend Hellertown Community Day on August 17th
Aquashicola Pohopoco Watershed Conservancy:
- The Ross Zoning Hearing Board supported the appeal by Tighe Scott that their new building will be a warehouse, not a distribution center. So the new building can be built in the headwaters of the Aquashicola Creek against the recommendations of the zoning officer.
- They are looking to schedule an Earth Day cleanup
Tobyhanna Creek Tunkhannock Creek Watershed Association:
- Nothing new to report for events this month
Little Lehigh Watershed Stewards:
- March 13th, Held live stake planting along LL Creek at Smith Lane & Mertztown
- March 16th – Planted 45 trees along Cedar Creek with a grant from Trout Unlimited and help from Allentown Parks Dept.
- March 24th – held stream cleanup along LL Creek just upstream from the Fish Hatchery.
- April 20 – table event at Allentown Earth Day celebration
- May 9 – Will have educational table at Hydromania at Cedar Crest College
- June – Planning for Knotweed Knockdown with Allentown Parks Dept. Site TBD
Neshaminy Creek Watershed Association:
- The NWA won a DECD grant sponsored by Rep Brian Monroe, State Representative for the 144th District. Rep Brian is very supportive of environmental initiatives in his district. The grant will fund a number of restoration projects in his district in three municipalities (Warminster, Warrington and New Britain Townships) along with associated public outreach and education around watershed friendly properties and watershed conservation.
- The NWA has established a good working relationship with Chalfont Boro. The West and North Branches of the Neshaminy meet at twin streams park in Chalfont Boro. Mike McNally is leading that relationship and there are plans to naturalize and enhance three public parks in Chalfont that the Neshaminy flows through.
- In partnership with the Bucks County Conservation District, the NWA is attempting to get support from five municipalities in the Neshaminy Watershed (New Britain Township, Doylestown Township, Warrington Township, Buckingham Township, Middletown Township and City of Bensalem) to create a virtual entity to adopt a more strategic approach to management of the Neshaminy Watershed. The goal of the pilot period of one year is to determine the value and feasibility of this idea. If the pilot is considered successful then all other municipalities in the watershed (21 others) will be invited to join.
- Little Neshaminy Macroinvertebrate study from March – November 2024. They will be surveying five sites once per month to generate an integrated biotic index score for each month to see if the sites are impaired or attaining environments.Their data will then be compared to existing DEP data and summarized in a report at the end of the year.
- There will be a Queen Anne’s Lace Clean up April 13th. Goal is to remove a tire dump from an emerging wetland.
Martins-Jacoby Watershed Association:
- They have started testing the streams in our watershed with the salt pollution test kits offered by the Izaak Walton League of America. Their plan is to try to test all the streams in the watershed over the next 2-3 years.
- They are continuing to monitor the large River Pointe Commerce Park development in UMBT. They have concerns about the stormwater management and proposed drip irrigation system for wastewater.
- Their bylaws were updated last month
- They have begun surveying stream crossing signs in the watershed to assess the need for replacements.
- They are in the process of developing a plan to conduct plantings in 2024 along the Martins Creek to improve the riparian buffers.
- In late 2023 they began temperature monitoring of Martins Creek. In 2024 they hope to add a second monitoring point.
Northampton County Parks:
- Rehung 72 purple martin nesting condos at Minsi Lake & Louise Moore Parks & installed two new condo towers at Minsi Lake (36 additional nesting condos).
- Began the volunteer bluebird, barred owl & kestrel nest box monitoring program for the season at several parks & installed two new kestrel nest boxes at Gall Farm Preserve in Plainfield Township.
- Presented an illustrated program on their lawn to meadow conversion projects for DCNR’s Lawn Conversion Advisory Committee on Zoom.
- Louise Moore Park was accredited as an arboretum via ArbNet (www.arbnet.org) & an arboretum brochure & map was created.
- Park facilities reservation season opens next Saturday, April 13.
- Their two community gardens (86 450-SF plots) are now open for the season.
- They are working with Wildlands on converting over a dozen acres of turf & hay fields to meadows at several parks.
- They approved a 25-year cooperative agreement with the PA Game Commission to improve their parks, preserves & conservation areas for wildlife habitat—game & nongame species alike.
- They submitted DCNR grant apps for trail improvements at Bear Swamp Park & updating the County’s Open Space Plan.
- They are cosponsoring & cohosting the 2024 PA Land Conservation Conference in Bethlehem this week & presenting several indoor sessions & leading two mobile workshops.
- They are rebuilding the Bear Swamp Archery Complex at Bear Swamp Park & building a brand new archery facility at Wayne Grube Park this year.