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Additional information
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Watershed Snapshot 2004, Part Two
By
Producer, Kelly Meinhart
You didn’t think we could feature just one Watershed
Snapshot story, did you?
 ertainly
not. There are several reasons why the snapshot event is unique and
those reasons are the many people that participate in them! Thousand
of volunteers including students, senior citizens, environmental professionals
and non-professionals make a point to help capture a picture of our
environmental health during the event.
hese activities are important because they give us a much better idea
at the problems we face, and do so within a short time frame. Pa DEP
then uses this information to catalog hotspots and situations that
are in need of immediate help and restoration.
ith the current Presidential Administration rolling back environmental
regulations and legislation it is more critical than ever that citizens
continue to take action and be involved in environmental protection.
These are our streams, it’s our air, if we don’t fight
for it — we all lose.
o taking part in this event is critical and I’ll just say 'thank
you' to all who have participated.
ur first story comes from Cascade Creek in Erie, where high school
teacher Jim Rutkowski teaches students about water quality through
the snapshot program.
"We have been studying Cascade Creek for the past 12 years or
so. During that time, we have determined that the water quality meets
the state standards for fish stocking and the PA Fish and Boat Commission
has been stocking trout in it for the past 6 or 7 years. Our findings
have shown that the most impact on the stream occurs during rain events,
when the impervious surfaces add a great deal of water to this small
watershed, causing stream levels to rise quickly. These high water
events also introduce certain pollutants into the creek and eventually
into the Bay.
Fifteen years ago, when I first started teaching at Strong Vincent
High School, Cascade Creek was known as a "dead stream"
with little, if any, aquatic life. As we studied the creek; and with
the help of citizens, residents along the watershed, and commercial
enterprises, the creek is now able to support a population of trout
and other aquatic species. It impacts my students deeply to see our
local residents, especially kids, fishing for trout within site of
our school and within the boundaries of the city of Erie."
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| Strong Vincent
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any organizations choose to schedule additional watershed events around
the snapshot — making it a watershed-wide week of activism.
For instance, in the Pymatuning Lake area, near Meadville, Pa., volunteers
organized a lake clean up in conjunction with the snapshot. So not
only are they testing the water quality, but improving the health
and habitat as well.
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| Pymatuning Lake
Clean Up |
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| Click on the photo to
enlarge it. |
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Thanks to Linda Armstrong and Rick and Christine Reyla for their
photo contributions
For more information about the Watershed Snapshot, check out the following
websites and links:
 Watersheds.tv
Watershed Snapshot 2004 Part One
Watersheds.tv
Watershed Snapshot 2003
Pa
DEP Watershed Snapshot |
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