Citizen Scientist                                                                                                                        

Darby Creek Valley Association is proud to be part of the Delaware River Watershed Initiative,

an effort to protect and restore the Delaware River watershed led by the William Penn Foundation. Working with our partner watershed organizations in the Philadelphia suburbs, our citizen scientists  conduct water quality monitoring efforts at numerous sites throughout the Darby Creek watershed.

The primary goal of this monitoring is to measure the impact of stream restoration projects that are underway in the watershed. The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University leads this effort with the help of Temple University and the Villanova University.

Each month, our team of committed citizen scientists gather valuable data throughout the    watershed. The Citizen Scientist are the eyes and ears of the creek, venturing out to take photos and complete monitoring forms. With dozens of miles of streams in the suburban part of the Darby Creek watershed, this monitoring would be impossible without our Citizen Scientist commitment. Our volunteers care about the creek!

To learn more contact Sue at suedcva@gmail.com 

Monitoring 

Darby Creek Valley Association has been conducting quality water monitoring throughout the Darby Creek Watershed since 2003 and Cobbs Creek, Darby Creek’s largest tributary, since 2014.

DCVA monitors 5 sites on the Darby Creek and 13 on Cobbs Creek  for- (Darby Creek riparian habitat conditions, temperature and macroinvertebrates) - (Cobbs Creek - riparian habitat, macroinvertebrates, chloride, nitrogen, phosphorus, pH, conductivity, turbidity, salinity.)

In 2014 we joined the Delaware River Watershed Initiative (DRWI) and partnered with Stroud  in 2017, to install, maintain and monitor an Enviro-DIY meter on an unnamed tributary to Cobbs Creek. The Enviro-DIY monitoring station measures conductivity, turbidity, temperature and water depth and those data (beginning on November 27, 2017) are uploaded auto-matically every five-minutes. See link below.

Derron LaBrake, one of our Board members, works extensive with Villanova and Temple Universities on a variety of stormwater related research, he even co-authored a research paper with Villanova in 2016.  Mr. LaBrake also collaborated on a research project with the Academy of Natural Sciences at Drexel University in 2015 and 2016, that was assessing the potential impacts associated with a non-indigenous invasive plant that is taking over the riparian habitat throughout the region.

Our initial results are that both Creeks are impaired due to urban stormwater runoff. And unless, and until we get our urban stormwater runoff under control they will remain the creeks will remain the same, as a place that should be avoided when it rains.