About the Darby and Cobbs Creek Community Science Monitoring Program
The Darby Creek Community Science Monitoring Program was established in 2021 by the Darby Creek Valley Association and Willistown Conservation Trust with support from Stroud Water Research Center! This collaborative project aims to create a network of training and mentoring opportunities to empower the neighbors of Darby and Cobbs Creek watersheds to collect high quality stream data and become water advocates for their community. The long-term goal of this project is to use the information collected from Darby Creek to educate the community, advise restoration decisions, such as choosing the most effective location to improve riparian buffers or the best place to install a rain garden to slow down storm water entering the stream. Detailed monitoring data will also help to identify pollution sources and areas of the landscape that pose a risk to watershed health and integrity. Cultivating a stronger understanding of the waterway takes time and effort, and we are looking to the community for help!
Human actions on the landscape have a direct impact on the health of waterways, and actions in the headwaters influence everything downstream. The Darby Creek Watershed is home to over half a million people and we must work together to make a positive difference to improve conditions for everyone in the watershed.
Darby & Cobbs Creek Community Science Program
Mission and Vision
“Water links us to our neighbor in a way more profound and complex than any other.”
- John Thorsun
Redefining Community Science
Clean water and thriving aquatic ecosystems are critical to our Darby and Cobbs Creek Watershed and to life itself. Never has it been more important to understand and address the impaired status of the watershed for the safety and health of all its residents.
Our
Mission
To monitor, protect, and improve the water quality and stream ecology of Pennsylvania’s vital Darby and Cobbs Creek watershed through volunteer community science, education, empowerment, and outreach.
Our
Vision
The Darby and Cobbs Creek Community Science Program is redefining community science. The high-quality data DCCCS collects is sought after by academic institutions, governmental agencies, and environmental organizations for analysis, publication, and conservation initiatives. DCCCS serves as a model for other community science programs and, ultimately, for reconnecting individuals and communities to their local waterways.
