The Delaware River Watershed Initiative of the William Penn Foundation is bringing together 40 conservation and educational organizations, including OSI, in a coordinated effort to protect water quality and quantity in the Delaware. In 2018, OSI produced Garden of Water, profiling a restoration project at the Abington Friends School in Jenkintown, PA.
Why would someone living on a creek upstream care about the quality of the water downstream? There are a million reasons why. Just ask the committed volunteers of the Tacony Frankford Partnership who are restoring Jenkintown Creek, an impaired stream in suburban Philadelphia that empties into the Schulykill River. They are rediscovering their creek and its importance for recreation and education while helping to clean water for millions of Philadelphians downstream.
Garden of Water, a short video produced by OSI, captures the enthusiasm and commitment of the students at Abington School as they do their part to install plants in the rain garden adjoining the creek near their school. The Jenkintown Creek Restoration Project, recently honored as one of 23 recipients of the Pennsylvania Environmental Excellence Awards, is an ambitious effort to utilize green infrastructure to reduce storm water run-off and improve water quality in the Philadelphia suburbs as part of the Delaware River Watershed Initiative.
The project involves four rain gardens, a 75-foot bioretention feature, bioswale and wetland enhancements, streambank stabilization along 3.7 miles of the creek. Over 3,775 herbaceous plants and 1,260 trees have been planted and more than 1,000 volunteers and students have participated in learning about stormwater runoff and the benefits of green stormwater infrastructure.
Watch the short documentary here.