Upper Perkiomen Watershed Term Paper

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precious to us, we spend very little time thinking about where the water in our community comes from, what organisms other than ourselves it serves, and what is being done to protect the quality of water in our community both for ourselves as humans and for other organisms that are dependent upon the local watershed. This paper examines a pair of groups that is in fact looking out for local water quality, the kind of conservation group that advocates the protection of our environment for all that use it basing their beliefs and recommendations upon both a committed philosophy as well as careful scientific analysis. The first of these two groups is the Perkiomen Watershed Conservancy, a nonprofit organization "founded in 1964 by local citizens to combat pollution in the Perkiomen Creek and its tributaries."

The conservancy, which is headed by a 14-member board of directors along with an advisory board of seven people and a staff of seven, has over 500 individual and family members as well as 33 municipal members and comprises a number of different individual programs, including an educational program, conservation programs, land stewardship and protection programs

. The organization, like most other conservation groups of its type, depends upon both individual and corporate and foundation support, and has received money from over 30 companies and foundations since it was founded.

It should perhaps be noted before continuing what exactly a watershed is. Other the term may be unfamiliar to many of us, in fact the concept is a fairly simple one and even if we do not know the terminology we are still in fact probably aware of the phenomenon. A watershed is simply a defined geographic area into which all of the precipitation (in this case both rain and snow) flows into a single stream or connected system of streams.

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The term "drainage basin" is sometimes used instead of watershed, but watershed is perhaps the preferred term since "drainage basin" has about it the suggested of sewage or at least of human intervention and engineering works while the term watershed tends to suggest that the phenomenon is in fact a natural one having to do with the geological substrates and natural contours of the area in question.

The map on the following page provides a graphic illustration of the watershed in question, showing its geographic borders as well as the ways in which the different waterways concerned (such as Swamp Creek and Perkiomen Creek) are connected to each other.

The Upper Perkiomen Watershed covers 144 square miles of land within the counties of Montgomery, Berks, Lehigh and Bucks, an area that includes 18 townships six boroughs. Its major tributaries include: the West Branch of the Perkiomen (also known as Northwest Branch); Indian Creek; Hosensack Creek; Macoby Creek; Unami Creek; Ridge Valley Creek; and Deep Creek.

http://www.pvwatershed.org

The waters of the Upper Perkiomen Watershed and all the tributaries except the Unami and Deep Creek drain into Green Lane Reservoir, an artificial "impoundment" owned by the Philadelphia Suburban Water Company (PSWC). The watershed is also currently defined by two other dams: Downstream of the reservoir is a dam that creates the 25-acre Knights Lake.

And adjoining Knights Lake is a 38-acre lake called Deep Creek Lake, which is also formed by a dam. Both the Unami Creek and Deep Creek both drain into the Perkiomen Creek at a point that is downstream of the Green Lane Reservoir.

These facts are important to note because the watershed is no longer defined by the natural contours that….....

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