Crum-Ridley-Chester Volunteer Water Monitors

Founded in 1990 and lasting for almost a decade, this citizen-based volunteer group collected data on chemical and biological indicators of water quality in the Crum, Ridley, and Chester Creeks in Delaware County, southeastern Pennsylvania.

Coordinators:

Leadership:

Frank Dowman, Sun Valley High School, Aston, PA (fdow@aol.com).

Peter Weber, Swarthmore, PA (weber.peter@epamail.epa.gov).

Arthur McGarity, Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, PA (amcgari1@swarthmore.edu).

Bruce W. Grant, Widener University, Chester, PA (grant@pop1.science.widener.edu).

This group has now joined the Chester-Ridley-Crum Watershed Association. (http://crcwatersheds.org/)
For more information contact: Carl DuPoldt, P.O Box 972, Edgmont, PA 19028. 610-353-2962 (cdupoldt@bellatlantic.net)

Ridley Creek at the Taylor Arboretum (just above the old millworks dam) during drought conditions in August 1996. {photo: Bruce W. Grant, Copyright, 1996}

This page is maintained by Bruce W. Grant, Department of Biology, Widener University, Chester, PA, 19013, 610-499-4017, fax: 610-499-4496, was last revised 30 December 2007 (data unchanged since 20 July 1999), and has been accessed times since 1 December 1997.

Site
Contents:

To download *.PDF version of blank data sheets press here.

Descriptions of Data Collection Locations in the Crum-Ridley-Chester Creek Watershed (http://www.science.widener.edu/~grant/crc_sites.html).

Summary of Data Collection Effort. (http://www.science.widener.edu/~grant/crc_eff.html)

Crum Creek Water Chemistry Data - Principal Sites:

Crum Creek Water Chemistry Data - Additonal Sites:

100C - Waterfront	110C - Near Waterfront	150C - Black Rock Park	180C - Ridley Park Lane
181C - Ridley Lake	195C - Yale Ave. South	300C - Whiskey Run	410C - Springhouse
500C - Hildacy Farm **	510C - Hildacy Farm Pond	600C - Mill Hollow

** biological data included

Ridley Creek Water Chemistry Data - Principal Sites:

100R - Taylor Waterfall	110R - Taylor Pond	200R - Rose Valley Sch.	250R - Rosetree Road
320R - Rocky Run	400R - Sycamore Mills	500R - State Park	600R - Strasburg Bridge

Ridley Creek Water Chemistry Data - Additional Sites:

190R - Longpoint Lane

300R - Black Hawk Spr.

310R - Dismal Run

650R - Headwaters East

Chester Creek Water Chemistry Data - Principal Sites:

100Ch - Shepard's Run	210Ch - Linville Road	220Ch - Mt. Alverno Rd.	???Ch - Brookhaven
500Ch - Sweetwater	600Ch - East Branch

Our Methods for Chemical and Biological Water Quality Data Collection. (http://www.science.widener.edu/~grant/crc_meth.html)

Please Read This Comment.

Related
Web
Sites:

Aquatic Biology Sites GALORE!!! ( http://www.science.widener.edu/~grant/crc_biol.html).

This is a new site of links to some of the best web pages on freshwater macroinvertebrates, zoo- and phytoplankton, vertebrates and freshwater aquatic ecological education in general that we have found. Special thanks go to spring 1999 ENVR 210 students Tom Sager and John Redmond for their efforts at finding and annotating many of these sites.

Chester-Ridley-Crum Watershed Association (http://crcwatersheds.org/).
- We have recently merged with the CRCWA and we hope that this merger will strengthen the efforts of volunteers in both groups. For more information on the CRCWA contact: Carl DuPoldt, P.O Box 972, Edgmont, PA 19028. 610-353-2962 (cdupoldt@bellatlantic.net)

US-EPA Region III Adopt a Watershed Program Proposal for Crum Creek (by Peter Weber) (http://www.science.widener.edu/~grant/crc_adopt.html).

U.S. EPA's Surf Your Watershed Page (http://www.epa.gov/surf/)

Described by EPA as "A service to help you locate, use, and share environmental information on your watershed or community." This is an excellent site for maps, water quality monitoring links nationwide. See also the EPA Office of Water's main page.
You can also turn to the EPA website on volunteer water monitoring: http://www.epa.gov/reg3wapd/3wp13/volmon/p1.htm Within that, at p.6, you'll find a downloadable bookmark file which has over 700 sites, including hydrologic cycle, water flow data, watershed assessments, monitoring methods manuals, and much more. The winter photos are of the Crum Creek, Swarthmore.

Delaware Valley Chapter of the Society for Conservation Biology (http://www.oikos.bio.vill.edu/SCB/index.htm)

Founded in 1995, this group consists of academic researchers and ecological educators throughout the PA-NJ-DE region. Annual conferences are held at area institutions presenting research, policy, and education on topics in regional biological conservation.

Delaware County Environmental Resource Guide (http://www.angelfire.com/pa/delcoenvresource/)

According to its web site "The Delaware County Environmental Resource Guide is designed to aid residents of Delaware County, Pennsylvania in locating recycling sites, environmental groups, and government agencies for additional information." This is a project of the Delaware County Environmental Network the purpose of which is to "facilitate a network among groups and individuals who seek to maintain or improve the quality of the environment in Delaware County."

Global Rivers Environmental Education Network - GREEN (http://www.igc.apc.org/green/green.html)

According to their web page, "GREEN is an innovative, action-oriented approach to education, based on an interdisciplinary watershed education model. GREEN's mission is to improve education through a global network that promotes watershed sustainability. It is a resource to schools and communities that wish to study their watershed and work to improve their quality of life. GREEN works closely with business, government, community, and educational organizations across the United States and Canada, and with GREEN Country Coordinators in 135 countries around the globe to support local efforts in watershed education and sustainability.
GREEN also maintains an excellent site on Watershed Education Resources on the Internet (http://www.igc.apc.org/green/resources.html). Check it out!

Please
Read
This
Comment:

      You are welcome to download some or all of the material posted at this site for your use in your research and teaching. This does not include commercial uses for profit. If you do use any of the data posted at this site, you are requested to formally acknowledge this site and/or sites listed by this site as the source(s), and email me, Bruce W. Grant, at grant@pop1.science.widener.edu describing how you have used these data. Your comments are useful in inspiring others to better integrate all of our efforts in protecting our watersheds, and I will post selected comments at this site.
Disclaimer:
      These data were collected by citizen volunteers using relatively inexpensive and low technology field methods, water chemistry kits, etc. We have taken reasonable precautions to assure quality control over the data posted at this site (including monitor training and re-training sessions and replacment of chemical reagents for the water quality kits in a timely manner); however, we cannot guarantee data accuracy. In addition, adult supervision is recommended when collecting water quality data, and we recommend that common sense and proper safety precautions be followed by all participants.
      No responsibility is implied or taken by any members of the Crum-Ridley-Chester Volunteer Water Monitoring Group, nor by the Chester-Ridley-Crum Watershed Association, nor by the webmaster - Dr. Bruce W. Grant, nor Dr. Grant's employer - Widener University, for (1) any uses of the data posted at this site for research, teaching, management, consulting, policy development, or any other use, and (2) for any person who sustains injuries as a result of collecting water quality data either inspired by the efforts of the CRCVWM Group or CRCWA, with or without the intention of contributing data to the CRCVWM Group or CRCWA, or related to any other activity that could derive from the CRCVWM Group or CRCWA.