“The valley of Cobb’s Creek, north of Market Street” by H. Parker Rolfe. Source: City Parks Association 1905-06 Annual Report. Credit: Adam Levine and Phillyh2o.org

We know that people who are aware of their local watershed and the challenges it faces—along with why that water is important—make for better stewards. They care about issues like keeping pet waste and litter out of the streets that ultimately drain into the watershed. And they know what an important role programs like Green City, Clean Waters play in protecting their watershed.

Encouraging that kind of engagement and knowledge is the goal guiding our efforts to collect and share the stories and history connected to the 22-square mile Cobbs Creek Watershed, which is part of the larger Darby-Cobbs Watershed, one of seven in the city. Cobbs Creek itself starts right around Haverford College and runs through the western suburbs and West Philadelphia before entering Darby Creek above the John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge near the Philadelphia International Airport (click here for an interactive watershed map).

Next week, we’ll be hosting a special talk about the history of Cobbs Creek with Adam Levine, a local historian who has spent two decades studying and documenting the history of water and waterways in Philadelphia. You would be hard pressed to find another person with more knowledge of what the city’s watersheds have been through since the first European settlers came here, and Levine’s presentations are always fascinating and informative.

Cobbs Creek stream restoration near Marshall Road, completed in 2004

Join us on Thursday, November 17 from 5:30-7:30 p.m. at the Fairmount Water Works Interpretive Center to learn about the planned stream restoration for Cobbs Creek, which will encompass approximately 8,000 linear feet of stream length. Gerald Bright, an environmental program scientist with PWD, will provide an overview of the restoration and its aim to mitigate combined sewer overflows and improve water quality using natural stream channel design techniques. The project will enhance Cobbs Creek Park by installing stormwater management projects, improving trails and gateways, and creating a more scenic waterway.

Learn more about PWD's efforts to improve water quality through Waterways Restoration.

Visit the John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge at Tinicum this Saturday, September 17 for the Cradle of Birding Wildlife and Conservation Festival. From 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., enjoy a free day of activities at the refuge, including live music, exhibits, animals, a bird-a-thon (that's a Snowy Egret above, a common species at John Heinz), food, games and workshops for fly-tying, fishing and photography.

Call 215-365-3118 or visit the refuge's website for more information; we can't stress enough how close and accessible the refuge is from I-95 and Center City Philadelphia—click here for directions via public transportation or car.

Photo: Tom Avril/Philadelphia Inquirer

We neglected to mention this Philadelphia Inquirer story from two weeks ago, in which a group of teenaged summer interns at the Cobbs Creek Environmental Education Center solved the mystery of a fish kill in the West Philadelphia waterway. Following the creek upstream, 10th grader Kamal Gatewood (pictured, above) caught the scent of chlorine, originating from the drainage pipe of a municipal swimming pool.

"'We could smell it from about 20 feet away,' the 15-year-old [Gatewood] said.

The trio said they tested the drainage water with a portable test kit. They added chemicals to their water samples, causing them to change color, which they then checked on a chart that revealed the chlorine level. It read more than five parts per million. Fish can be killed by levels less than one-tenth that amount, according to a Duke University website. However, those readings were taken directly from the drainage pipe; the water in the creek was much more diluted.

At the suggestion of Singh and Kurnick, sewer repair workers agreed to move the pipe so it drained into a sewer grate."

Stay tuned for more news on this watershed detective work.