By: Lauren McGrath
Welcome to Creek Week, our annual week-long celebration of Ridley, Crum, and Darby Creeks.
Since its inception in 2017, the goal of the Watershed Protection Program has been to study relationships between land conservation and water quality in the headwaters of Ridley, Crum, and Darby Creeks. We have worked to accomplish this goal through monthly water quality sampling and annual aquatic macroinvertebrate sampling. To date, we have collected over 11,500 water quality measurements and sorted and identified over 12,000 aquatic macroinvertebrates. We published the State of our Streams Report in 2022, summarizing our findings, and plan to publish an updated edition next year.
In 2021, we launched the Darby & Cobbs Creek Community Science program in partnership with Darby Creek Valley Association and with support from Stroud Water Research Center. This program, which started with the humble goal of recruiting five volunteers to collect water quality samples in Darby Creek, has grown wildly, with 40 volunteers sampling at 31 sites throughout the Darby Creek and its tributaries, including Cobbs Creek.
Our watershed research has led to exciting discoveries. In 2022, we partnered with the Academy of Natural Sciences to formally document two previously undocumented populations of freshwater mussels in Ridley and Crum Creeks. We were thrilled by the results – both streams had over 70 mussels in a 500 meter stretch. When a volunteer reported finding freshwater mussels near her sample sites in Darby Creek, we were eager to conduct another survey. In May, we partnered with Delaware Riverkeeper Network and found 853 mussels in less than 500 meters of stream and evidence of breeding. Freshwater mussels are one of the most imperiled groups of organisms on the planet, and finding a population as robust as the one in Darby Creek is astonishing.
No less astonishing than the discovery of our beloved bivalves thriving in Darby Creek was documenting the first sighting of an animal that has not been seen in Ridley Creek in over 100 years – the River Otter! In December, we set up wildlife cameras to monitor a local beaver. We captured many photos of the beaver and, to our shock and joy, a River Otter checking out the camera. River Otters were hunted to near extinction in Pennsylvania and have made a comeback through conservation and reintroduction efforts. Their presence in Ridley Creek is a testament to the long history of land conservation in the region.
To improve habitat for wildlife in Ridley Creek, from mussels to River Otters, we planted nearly 1,500 native trees and shrubs at Ashbridge Preserve from 2019 to 2023. These plants – comprising 53 different species – stabilize the stream bank, reduce erosion, and provide habitat for a myriad of species. Join us for a volunteer day this Thursday, June 27, to maintain this tree planting and ensure it continues to thrive. Sign up here.
From water chemistry to River Otters, one message is clear: everything that happens on the land impacts the water. Open space benefits water quality, development degrades it. We hope you take some time this Creek Week to explore your local stream – you never know what you might find!
Every day this week, we will post a blog about something going on in our local waterways:
- Monday – Soils and Water Quality
- Tuesday – Bioretention Basins
- Wednesday – Riparian Buffers
- Thursday – Aquatic Parasites
- Friday – Invasive Fish
- Saturday – Case Study: Little Crum Creek
