By Virginia Ranly, Watershed Programs Coordinator, Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education

The fish kill that occurred in Wissahickon Creek this summer, as well as the release of raw sewage just a few days later remind us of our heavy dependence and impact on our waterways. The freshwater streams in our area are a great resource to the community, but these streams also bear the brunt of the many stresses that we add to the land and waterways.

Despite the surroundings of Wissahickon Valley in Philadelphia and a riparian corridor in Montgomery County, Wissahickon Creek is heavily impacted by human activities on land throughout the watershed.

This fall The Schuylkill Center is implementing a pilot project with four schools in the Wissahickon watershed. Through this pilot project, a Junior Environment Corp (JEC) will be established in each of the four schools—Pennfield Middle School in Hatfield, C.W. Henry School in Mt. Airy, James Dobson School in Manayunk, and Thomas Mifflin School in East Falls. These JECs will regularly monitor points on the Wissahickon Creek and the Schuylkill River.

JEC students will receive training in water quality assessment, as well as additional watershed stewardship education programs, participate in watershed-focused service projects, and conduct community outreach to residents.

Funding for the project is provided by Pennsylvania’s Growing Greener program through the Department of Environmental Protection. This funding, along with the commitment of materials and time from many other community partners has allowed The Schuylkill Center to dedicate the time and resources necessary to make this a successful and influential project.

The Junior Environment Corps pilot project is the fourth Schuylkill Center project to be funded through Growing Greener, and resources and programs developed through previous projects are being utilized in the implementation of the JEC pilot project.

The Junior Environment Corps concept is modeled after existing Pennsylvania Senior Environment Corps (PaSECs). PaSECs are groups of senior citizens (55 and older) who volunteer to regularly monitor Pennsylvania’s waterways.

Pennsylvania sometimes uses volunteers to collect water quality data because the state is charged with monitoring the status of all of its waterways, including 53,982 miles of streams—a monumental task that is never completed.

Many individuals and school groups take water quality measurements without proper quality assurance measures and without careful planning, resulting in the collection of data that is of little scientific value.

With the creation of a Study Design for the students and a Student Field Manual, and a variety of safety and quality assurance protocols built into the program, the JEC pilot project aims to give validity to water monitoring done by students. The Study Design and Student Field Manual were created with assistance from the PADEP’s Citizen Volunteer Monitoring Program. The Study Design and Student Field Manual will be made available to other schools after the pilot project concludes.

An integral part of the JEC pilot project is the intergenerational collaboration between members of Pennsylvania Senior Environment Corps and the middle school students. This collaboration improves the quality of the data being collected and also emphasizes the importance of a community approach to improving our environment.

The three PaSEC groups participating in the project are the Montgomery County SEC (based in Lansdale), the Center in the Park SEC (based in Germantown) and The Schuylkill Center SEC (based out of The Schuylkill Center).

If you or someone you know is 55 or older and interested in participating in the Senior Environment Corps and/or mentoring Junior Environment Corp students, please contact The Schuylkill Center.

Additional information about the Junior Environment Corps pilot project in the Wissahickon and Lower Schuylkill watersheds can be found on the Student Water Monitoring Network website. This site also hosts the students’ water quality data and additional information about their projects.

Reprinted with permission from The Quill, Fall 2006 edition, published by the Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education.

9/22/2006