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Love Your Park: Celebrate the Green Spaces Protecting Your Water

May 12, 2017
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From the very beginning, the Fairmount Park system has been an important tool for protecting Philadelphia’s rivers and streams, and to read the history of our park system is to read a story of city planners striving to create natural buffers to protect rivers and streams from industry and development.

Rather than evolving away from that original purpose, our parks are today actually becoming more and more important for protecting the city’s seven watersheds.

As Philadelphians gather for Love Your Park Week—a celebration of our green spaces involving more than 80 volunteer service days and 40-plus special events in parks across Philadelphia from May 13-21—many of them will be tending to Parks and Recreation facilities that now feature special green tools created through the Green City, Clean Waters program.

The Philadelphia Water Department’s partnership with Parks and Recreation has been essential in achieving the ambitious goals of Green City, Clean Waters: drastically reducing pollution from runoff and sewer overflows through the creation of green infrastructure systems that soak up water from storms while creating new green spaces in our neighborhoods.

In 2016, Philadelphia celebrated the program’s fifth year and the fact that we’re exceeding greening and water quality targets set back when PWD proposed the nation’s first large-scale green stormwater infrastructure program.

Without the robust support of Parks and Recreation, the Fairmount Park Conservancy and groups like the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society and the Trust for Public Land, that might not be the case.

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Resident Helps Spot—and Preserve—Some of Philly’s Oldest Water Infrastructure

May 4, 2017
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In a city as old as Philadelphia, there’s a chance you’ll come across something historic pretty much any time you put a shovel into the ground.

That was the case on Wednesday, May 3 as workers replaced a water line along the 900 block of Spruce Street. During their excavation, they came across what looked like old logs:

Spruce Street Wooden Water Mains Uncovered

How old?

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West Philly Students: Work with PWD and Become One of Philly’s First Watershed Stewards This Summer

May 2, 2017
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Want to become one of Philly's first Watershed Stewards? Contact Alisa at 267-571-5750 to request an application. The deadline to apply is this Friday, May 5th.
Want to become one of Philly's first Watershed Stewards? Contact Alisa at alisa@landhealthinstitute.org or 267-571-5750 to request an application. The deadline to apply is this Friday, May 5th

Having passion for a cause doesn’t always pay off. But this summer, it can.

If you have a love of the outdoors and an interest in becoming involved in your community, you can be one of the Philadelphia Water Department’s first Watershed Stewards.

We've partnered with the LandHealth Institute—a nonprofit organization providing environmental education and stewardship services to Philadelphia youth—to create the Philadelphia Watershed Stewards program. 

The deadline to apply is this Friday, May 5th.

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4th District Water Town Hall with PWD and Councilman Jones

May 2, 2017
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A Water Town Hall will be held for residents of City Council’s Fourth District on Thursday, May 11th from 6 to 8 p.m. at Sharon Baptist Church, located at 3955 Conshohocken Ave.

This public forum is the second in a series of Water Town Halls for Philadelphia City Council Districts and will feature Councilman Curtis Jones Jr. and Philadelphia Water Department Commissioner Debra McCarty. 

Spread the word: Invite friends on Facebook.

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History, Nature and Green Stormwater Tools: Tour this Roxborough Gem with Local Experts

May 1, 2017
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Then and Now: The historic photo at top, taken is Oct. 15, 1897, shows workers lining the Upper Roxborogh Reservoir with brick. The lower Google Maps image shows the site today, outlined in yellow. Credit: Phillyh2o.org
Then and Now: The historic photo at top, taken is Oct. 15, 1897, shows workers lining the Upper Roxborough Reservoir with brick. The lower Google Maps image shows the site today, outlined in yellow. Credit: Phillyh2o.org

Philadelphia Water Department historian Adam Levine and PWD staff members are hosting a walking tour of the long-ago retired Upper Roxborough Reservoir—a place whose past illuminates both the roots of its Northwest Philly neighborhood and the evolution of Philadelphia’s modern-day water infrastructure.

The tour takes place at the Upper Roxborough Reservoir, 601 Port Royal Ave., on May 17 and will last from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. This event is being held as a part of Philadelphia Parks and Recreation’s Love Your Park Week 2017.

Please RSVP here.

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Flood Risk Management Task Force: Manayunk Public Meeting

Apr 28, 2017
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A meeting on flooding will be held on May 11 at 6 p.m. at the Venice Island rec center, 7 Lock Street. Credit: Brian Rademaekers

Members of the Manayunk community and Philadelphia residents are invited to join City officials for a special meeting highlighting ongoing efforts to protect neighborhoods from the impacts of flooding and storms.


The talk is being hosted by the City of Philadelphia’s Flood Risk Management Task Force, a group featuring the Philadelphia Water Department and a wide range of City agencies and departments involved in flooding-related issues.

Scheduled for Thursday, May 11th at the Venice Island Performing Arts and Recreation Center, the public meeting will kick off at 6 p.m. and address questions such as:

• Why and when does Manayunk flood?

• What can residents and businesses do to better prepare themselves?

•What is the Task Force doing about flooding?

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Councilman Mark Squilla and the Philadelphia Water Department Host Water Town Hall

Apr 24, 2017
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Councilman Mark Squilla and the Philadelphia Water Department will hold a Water Town Hall meeting at Our Lady of Port Richmond School, located at 3233 E. Thompson St., on Tuesday, April 25th from 6 to 8 p.m.


Click the image to invite your friends and neighbors on Facebook.

 

This event is the first in a series of Water Town Halls for Philadelphia City Council Districts.

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Centennial Commons Ground Breaking: Green Upgrades to Protect Philly Waterways

Apr 20, 2017
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This rendering of the Parkside Edge improvements shows the location of rain gardens that add landscaping to the area while managing stormwater from local streets and protecting the Schuylkill River. Credit: Fairmount Park Conservancy, Philadelphia Parks and Recreation, Studio|Bryan Hanes
This rendering of the Parkside Edge improvements shows the location of rain gardens that add landscaping to the area while managing stormwater from local streets and protecting the Schuylkill River. Credit: Fairmount Park Conservancy, Philadelphia Parks and Recreation, Studio|Bryan Hanes

The Philadelphia Water Department joined partners in kicking off major improvements coming to Fairmount Park’s Centennial District during a ground breaking ceremony on Thursday, April 20.

Representing the first phase of the Centennial Commons project—an ambitious plan connecting nearby Parkside residents to the area of West Fairmount Park that once hosted the famed Centennial Exhibition of 1876—the event took place at 41st Street and Parkside Avenue.

This initial phase of the project includes Green City, Clean Waters investments that will bring natural landscaping features to the upgraded park. Mostly managing stormwater from the streets of the adjacent Parkside neighborhood, the series of new rain gardens, featuring native plants, will keep millions of gallons of polluted water out of local waterways each year.

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