Events
All meetings are open to the public. Join us and learn more about the work the Wild and Scenic River Program is doing in your community and how you can get involved.
A White Clay Watershed Association Board Meeting will immediately follow this meeting.
Meeting Agenda (posted here one week before meeting)
Celebrate the natural and cultural resources of the White Clay watershed with live music, entertainment, kids' activities, hikes, food trucks, and more! The event is free, but there is a fee for state park entrance if you are not a state park pass holder.
All meetings are open to the public. Join us and learn more about the work the Wild and Scenic River Program is doing in your community and how you can get involved.
Meeting Agenda (posted here one week prior to meeting)
Join us to learn more about the Catch the Rain Program and explore Stroud's campus as we discuss conservation practices focusing on rain gardens using native plants.
Learn how rain gardens improve water quality, reduce flooding, recharge wells, filter pollutants, reduce summer heat, and keep our water clean.
Gain tools to analyze your property, assess stormwater runoff, and select appropriate native plants.
All meetings are open to the public. Join us and learn more about the work the Wild and Scenic River Program is doing in your community and how you can get involved.
Meeting Agenda (posted here one week prior to meeting)
Join us to celebrate World Water Day at Stroud Water Research Center!
Date and time: March 22, 2024 from 4:30–7 p.m.
Location: Outside at Stroud Water Research Center, 970 Spencer Road, Avondale, PA 19311.
Audience: Family and community event.
Cost: Free! Please register so we know how many people to expect, thank you!
Fecha y hora: 22 de marzo de 2024, desde las 4:30–7 p.m.
Ubicación: Frente al Centro de Investigación del Agua Stroud, 970 Spencer Road, Avondale, PA 19311.
Invitados: Familias – evento comunitario.
Costo: Gratuito! Por favor regístrese para informarnos cuántas personas asistirán.
All meetings are open to the public. Join us and learn more about the work the Wild and Scenic River Program is doing in your community and how you can get involved.
Meeting Agenda (posted here one week prior to meeting)
Join us for a public meeting to learn about upstream restoration opportunities to alleviate storm runoff and improve habitat and water quality. These projects are located in the drainage area above Avondale Borough in the East fork of the upper east branch of White Clay Creek.
Speaker: Aaron Clauser, PhD, CPESC, Clauser Environmental, LLC
Information regarding nearby parking will be sent to those who RSVP a few days before the event.
All meetings are open to the public. Join us and learn more about the work the Wild and Scenic River Program is doing in your community and how you can get involved.
Meeting Agenda (posted here one week prior to meeting)
Join us to learn more about the Catch the Rain Program and explore Stroud's campus as we discuss conservation practices such as rain gardens, wildlife gardens, meadows, streamside forests, and more.
■ Learn how conservation practices improve water quality, reduce flooding, recharge wells, filter pollutants, reduce summer heat, and keep our water clean.
■ Gain tools to analyze your property and stormwater runoff, including Model My Watershed and others from the award-winning WikiWatershed Toolkit.
All meetings are open to the public. Join us and learn more about the work the Wild and Scenic River Program is doing in your community and how you can get involved.
Meeting Agenda (posted here one week prior to meeting)
Hello Environmental Volunteers and Friends,
We really hope that you can join us again this year!!! The more people we have, the more we can get done! We’ll be doing invasive plant removal and stacking in a very prominent part of the Preserve. Instructions will be given before the work starts. Participants age 18+. Top priorities are safety first while preserving the native area and plants. We’ll be pulling out or cutting down invasive, non-native shrubs. Do not remove any plants, except the ones identified! If in doubt, ask. Useful to bring: loppers, pruners, or saws. We will not be digging, so no shovels.
The Christina River Watershed Committee supporting cleanup for 30 years, will be providing teeshirts with their logo on them! If you’re planning on participating, please let me know soon and include desired size shirt. (Expect a little cotton shrinkage. For reference, I always wear a medium.) Even if you don’t want a shirt, please let me know if you’re coming, so I can try to prepare the release signing to be as easy as possible.
All participants should bring a pair of sturdy work gloves. (We have a few pairs to borrow too.) Wearing long pants and sturdy boots are highly recommended. Don’t forget sun protection, suntan lotion and bug spray if you wish. Ticks can always be a risk. Water, pretzels, and apples will be provided. All volunteers will need to sign waivers for two agencies.
Email April Schmitt at april.schmitt27@gmail.com to register!
All meetings are open to the public. Join us and learn more about the Wild and Scenic River Program's work in your community and how you can get involved.
Meeting Agenda (posted here one week before the meeting)
Please preregister at : https://forms.gle/dSEAHehYdeNeNRzeA
Registered participants will receive a zoom link one week prior to the workshop.
Date and time: March 22, 2023 from 4:30–7:30 p.m.
Location: Outside at Stroud Water Research Center, 970 Spencer Road, Avondale, PA 19311
Audience: Family and community event.
Cost: Free! Please register so we know how many people to expect, thank you!
Fecha y hora: 22 de marzo de 2023, desde las 4:30–7:30 p.m.
Ubicación: Frente al Centro de Investigación del Agua Stroud, 970 Spencer Road, Avondale, PA 19311
Invitados: Familias – evento comunitario
Costo: Gratuito! Por favor regístrese para informarnos cuántas personas asistirán.
CBLP is a voluntary, regional credential for professionals who design, install, and maintain sustainable landscapes in the Bay watershed. They will be hosting a 2-day workshop on March 14 & 15 in Hockessin, DE. Classroom learning will take place at Mount Cuba Center, Field trips will take place at various BMPs located throughout the Whtie Clay Creek Watershed.
CEUs available from many organizations- to view the full list, find out more, or to register visit: www.cblpro.org
Creating resiliency in the Bay watershed
Stormwater BMP design, installation, management, & inspection
Active learning environment
Sustainable landscape practices
Native plants, natural communities, soils, and habitat
Networking and collaborative practice opportunities
Cost for program, materials, and exam: $445. Discounts are available for companies or organizations sending three or more employees to Level 1. Scholarships may be available based on your locality. For more information- Katie@cblpro.org
When: Wednesday, January 25, 2023, 4–6 p.m. EST.
Where: Online via Zoom. The connection link will be emailed prior to the event.
Audience: This online session is open to homeschool providers, classroom teachers, and non-formal environmental educators. Two hours of Act 48 are available for Pennsylvania Certified Teachers. A certificate of participation will be provided for teachers outside of Pennsylvania.
Cost: FREE! Registration is required and closes at midnight on Monday, January 23.
With funding from the Department of Environmental Protection’s Environmental Education Grants, Stroud Water Research Center, in collaboration with regional partner school districts, sparked an initiative to create outdoor learning spaces on school campuses. These areas provide benefits to water quality and wildlife habitat as well as meaningful outdoor learning opportunities for teachers and all of their K-12 students. This project also allows communities to engage with the school to learn about the local watershed.
In this workshop, you will hear directly from participating teachers (elementary to high school level) and Stroud Center education staff on this collaborative approach at all phases, from design and building to lesson creation.
Presenters will share tips on how to get started, funding outlets, design tools, and successful ways of communicating with key staff in the district, as well as examples of their learning spaces to be completed by the end of the 2023 school year. In addition, you will hear from a landscape professional on plant suggestions and more in the outdoor learning landscape!
Participants will receive information about tools and resources available for outdoor learning space design and implementation.
Participants will learn about a successful model of increasing equitable access to meaningful outdoor learning spaces for teachers and their K-12 students through the design and access of the spaces.
Jump on in and join us in January 2023! Questions? Please email Tara Muenz (co-instructor of workshop).
All meetings are open to the public. Join us and learn more about the work the Wild and Scenic River Program is doing in your community and how you can get involved.
Meeting Agenda (posted here one week prior to meeting)
Join Stroud Water Research Center for HerStory in STREAM, a free four-season environmental education program (one session per season) that empowers today’s youth to become tomorrow’s leaders in freshwater science, technology, recreation, engineering, art, and math (STREAM).
HerStory in STREAM brings together young female trailblazers for at least two of three engaging programs that form the exciting STREAM Summit:
Canoeing & Chemistry Session: Saturday, November 5, 2022, 1:30–5:30 p.m. at Marsh Creek State Park, Western Side Boat Launch. Paddle a lake teeming with aquatic life, dive into water quality monitoring with hands-on water chemistry experiments, discover new connections between human and watershed health, and explore freshwater habitats teeming with life!
Community Science & Engineering Session: January 2023 (date to be determined) at the Stroud Center. Shadow environmental scientists and engineers to learn how “stream robots” like the EnviroDIY Mayfly Data Logger remotely collect data to protect waterways worldwide. Experience a hands-on, minds-on session programming sensors to take real water quality data with an optional behind-the-scenes tour of the Stroud Center!
World Water Day Session: Wednesday, March 22, 2023, at the Stroud Center. Work alongside a real Stroud Center scientist as we showcase our research at this public event celebrating water worldwide! Get your boots wet (loaner gear provided) to collect live aquatic insects and fish – some of the most powerful storytellers of our streams – and explore stream habitats and watershed tea.
STREAM Summit Session: June 2023 (date to be determined) at the Stroud Center. Gather with fellow change-makers, engage with a panel of STREAM career professionals, complete a stewardship action project for healthy water (e.g., tree planting, environmental awareness project), and share your own story in the future of fresh water! Friends, families, and community members are all welcome to attend.
Ready to dive in? Registration is required due to limited seats. Register here by September 30 at midnight!
Volunteers are needed both October 1 & 2 to plant 550 trees at Crossan Park in Franklin Township. Volunteers should arrive at 9 am and park at Crossan Park (lower lot). For more information please contact Franklin Township at 610-255-5212. This is a great opportunity to give back to your community!
All meetings are open to the public. Join us and learn more about the work the Wild and Scenic River Program is doing in your community and how you can get involved.
Meeting Agenda (posted here one week prior to meeting)
All meetings are open to the public. Join us and learn more about the work the Wild and Scenic River Program is doing in your community and how you can get involved.
Meeting Agenda (posted here one week prior to meeting)
Franklin Preserve Tree planting Volunteers needed! Help reforest Franklin Township by planting 270 trees!
Where: Franklin Preserve service entrance, 59 Parsons Road, Landenberg PA 19350
When: Saturday May 21, 2022 9:00 am to 12:00 noon. (Rain Date Sunday May 22 9:00)
Questions: Franklin Township Office: 610-255-5212
Updates on Weather on the Township website: franklintownship.us
Franklin Township has received a donation of 270 saplings of various native trees. These saplings are just 1 to 2 feet high and will be planted in protective tubes to form a riparian buffer along the West Branch of the White Clay Creek. This is an important project to improve the White Clay watershed and improve water quality in the stream. The trees filter the water before it reaches the stream, they shade the water to keep it cool for the fish. The trees slow the water to reduce flooding and hold the soil in place when flooding occurs. They also provide habitat for the local critters and remove carbon from the atmosphere.
No registration needed, just show up!
Volunteers should bring:
Water (86 Degrees forecast)
Shovel - Full size pointed Shovel for planting.
Mallet - 3 or 4 pound steel mallet to drive stakes. (Rubber mallets don't work, small carpenter hammers don't work, if you don't have one we can share ours)
Hand Clippers - small ones to keep in your pocket
Tick protection, spraying Off on your boots and pants is suggested.
Gloves
Event made possible by the White Clay Watershed Association and the White Clay Wild and Scenic River Program and the Franklin Township Parks, Recreation and Open Space Committee.
Join us at our annual celebration of the White Clay Creek! Live music by Unity Reggae and live bird show with Animal Behavior and Conservation Connections.
Join Stroud Water Research Center to celebrate World Water Day and the unveiling of our new Watershed Education Mobile Lab! Families and community members can engage in four activities: discovery of live “stream bug” (aquatic macroinvertebrates) at our Mobile Lab, Stroud Center stream ecology videos under our pavilion, a special bilingual (Spanish and English) reading of the Creek Critters children’s picture book in our streamside forest, and an electrofishing demonstration to learn about how real scientists sample eels, trout, and other underwater neighbors in White Clay Creek.
Audience: Family and community event.
Cost: Free! Please register so we know how many people to expect and how much hot chocolate to make.
All meetings are open to the public. Join us and learn more about the work the Wild and Scenic River Program is doing in your community and how you can get involved.
Meeting Agenda (posted here one week prior to meeting)
When: Tuesday, February 22, 2022, 6–8 p.m. EST
Where: Online via Zoom video conferencing. The connection link will be emailed prior to the event.
Audience: This online session is open to homeschool providers, classroom teachers, and non-formal environmental educators. Two hours of Act 48 are available for Pennsylvania Certified Teachers. A certificate of participation will be provided for teachers outside of Pennsylvania.
Cost: Free.
Registration: Limited to the first 50 participants. Register here!
Climate change is striking our rivers first and hardest. This educator professional development workshop will focus on tools, resources, and ideas that pertain to climate change impacts and how to improve our choices around freshwater resources while focusing on a very special place on the planet, White Clay Creek watershed.
White Clay Creek has a unique status of being a National Wild and Scenic River, the first to be protected on a watershed basis. Flowing through parts of Chester County, Pennsylvania, and New Castle County, Delaware, the watershed faces threats that affect all of us. With outstanding resource values in recreation, geology, wildlife, history, and culture, White Clay Creek is a perfect example for educators to bring place-based learning into their lessons that promote and support the protection and restoration of these resources.
Special guest speakers include Shane Morgan, White Clay Creek management plan coordinator, who will take us on a virtual tour and share the beauty and needs of the watershed as well as the opportunities to connect to a very special waterway. Sharing existing regional science, Marc Peipoch, Ph.D., an ecosystem ecologist at Stroud Water Research Center, will bring us into an awareness and understanding of climate impacts with an update on the status of freshwater systems. Tara Muenz, assistant director of education at the Stroud Center, will then lead us into a set of hands-on/mind-on activities you can use with groups to start the conversation about climate resiliency in freshwater systems through the lens of aquatic macroinvertebrates!
What more could you ask for? Jump on in and join us in February 2022! Questions? Please email Tara Muenz (co-instructor of workshop).
Presented in partnership with:
Please join us for our upcoming public workshop regarding the Master Planning Project at White Clay Creek Preserve on December 15th, 6PM-8PM via zoom. Please register prior to the meeting at the following link: https://forms.office.com/g/hPqRs66AaR or by scanning the QR code below.
During the upcoming workshop, our team will update you on our planning efforts and what we’ve been working on behind the scenes. As a stakeholder, it can be difficult to understand or feel updated on where we are in the process of the master plan and we’d like to take some time to explain the planning process thus far. This is the first step in a longer process of developing a Foundation document for the Preserve. It helps us understand the important elements of White Clay Creek Preserve prior to diving into the Master Plan.
The goals of the workshop include an update on planning, discussing the poll results, giving plenty of time for public input, and providing a glimpse of where we’re headed moving forward.
All meetings are open to the public. Join us and learn more about the work the Wild and Scenic River Program is doing in your community and how you can get involved.
Meeting Agenda (posted here one week prior to meeting)
The Christina Watersheds Municipal Partnership invites you to attend this bus tour and workshop designed to provide Township staff with the information they need to manage and improve their roadside stormwater infrastructure.
Presentations Include:
Bus tour, making stops along Dirt and Gravel Low Volume Road (DGLVR) and urban project sites in Newlin Township and West Chester Borough presented by Jim Demchak - Chester County Conservation District and Courtney Finneran and Andrew Potts, Water Resources Project Manager, Jacobs
DGLVR Project Site Examples presented by Wade Brown – Center for DGLVRCreative Funding Options for Road BMPs presented by Ellen Kohler, University of Maryland Environmental Finance Center
This is a free workshop for CWMP cost-share participants which includes morning refreshments, 3 PDH credits, and lunch. Non-members pay $50 for the workshop. Please click HERE to register for the event.
Safety protocols will be in place due to COVID-19. Please bring a face mask; they will be required on the bus.
All meetings are open to the public. Join us and learn more about the work the Wild and Scenic River Program is doing in your community and how you can get involved.
Meeting Agenda (posted here one week prior to meeting)
All meetings are open to the public. Join us and learn more about the work the Wild and Scenic River Program is doing in your community and how you can get involved.
Meeting Agenda (posted here one week prior to meeting)
