Schuylkill River Stewards Committee

Due to inclement weather the Schuylkill Navy River Stewards' 2nd Annual River Bank Cleanup has been postponed until April 16th, 2016. Please note that the Mayor's Cleanup has also been postponed to April 16th. The schedule on the day of the cleanup remains the same. For more information and sign up: http://goo.gl/forms/jnnF2NHU5j

Philadelphia's first four public Water Kiosks are here! Two of them are strategically placed to serve regatta participants, friends and families - next to Kelly Statue at the grandstands and the St. Joe's - Temple boathouse parking lot sidewalk. The Water Kiosks combine the traditional water fountain with two taps to fill reusable water bottles. No more need for bulky cases of single use water bottles and the resulting waste and litter. The water kiosks are brought to you by... the City of Philadelphia's Water Department - Philadelphia Water. The member organizations of the Philadelphia Rowing Community - Schuylkill Navy and its River Stewards Committee, Head of the Schuylkill Regatta and Philadelphia Scholastic Rowing Association - are partnering with Philadelphia Water, Parks and Recreation and Streets on this and other initiatives to stop litter from reaching our river. High school rowers and their families can help lead the way! Leave once and done water bottles at home. Bring your favorite reusable water bottle and fill up - for free! For more information on the this initiative, go to the following links: http://www.phila.gov//greencitycleanwat/Pages/default.aspx and https://www.facebook.com/Schuylkillriverstewards/

Estuary News-Winter 2016 To read the entire article click: https://drive.google.com//0B2APEqTfOGW_TFA0SU5MSThTS/view and scroll to page-6

America’s Oldest Athletic Governing Body Protects its Home Waters. (see page 6) http://delawareestuary.s3.amazonaws.com//winter-news-16.pdf

http://us8.campaign-archive2.com/

On 12/12/15 eleven volunteers from the Schuylkill Navy and friends undertook the following projects: 1) Removed obstructions affecting the navigation of the river. Logs identified as being in the path of canoes, kayaks, rowing shells and launches were removed. 2) Cleared invasive plants that were damaging the trees growing on the riverbank. 3) Cleared away brush and vines obstructing the view of the 2K and 1.5K starting lines from the river.... Miscellaneous plastic bottles trapped in congested logs and branches were also removed. Special thanks to: Al Wachlin-Fairmount Rowing Association Jack Lees of Crescent Boat Club Jonathan Lees Crescent Boat Club John Pagano Mark Valenti of Pennsylvania Barge Club Efrain Santiago Adam Lutz Troy Madden-Roman Catholic Crew Brian Perkins-Temple Rowing Mike Cipollone-Fairmount Rowing Association Hanley Bodek-University Barge Club Tom Barron-University Barge Club

With improved weather and following up on our meeting on 1/16/16 the River Stewards Committee met with the Philadelphia Water Department, the Philadelphia Department of Park and Recreation, PowerCorps (an Americorps program), and the Philadelphia Canoe Club to kick off the west bank invasive plant removal project for 2016. In this picture Alex Warwood from the Philadelphia Water Department provides instruction on safety. Special thanks the City, the Water Department, the Parks and Recreation Department, PowerCorps, Rich Widman from the Philadelphia Canoe Club and Jack Conlan, Alan Robinson and Tom Barron from the Schuylkill Navy.

On 11/14/15 volunteers from the Schuylkill Navy River Stewards Committee, Jacobs Engineering, The University of Pennsylvania, Drexel University and the PWD converged on the esplanade area of the Fairmount Water Works. The goal: to attack a large pile of intermixed branches, logs, and tree trunks. This material had been deposited by a number of floods and had become a collector for more debris with each flood. The debris was pulled apart, separated by size and type and carried up the granite steps. It will be picked up this week by the Department of Parks and Recreation.

http://unitedbyblue.com//schuylkill-river-cleanup-in-phila

On 1/11/16 the River Stewards Committee met with representatives of the Philadelphia Water Department, Philadelphia Parks and Recreation, and PowerCorps to map out a partnership program for the removal of invasive species on the west bank of the river from Columbia Avenue bridge to Twin Stones Bridge. The purpose of the project is to remove stress from the native vegetation, increase access to and visibility of the river from the bike/pedestrian path and to enhance the visibility from the river for paddlers and rowers. Stay tuned for opportunities to volunteer for this important project. Work will be proceeding immediately.

Back in August the Schuylkill River Stewards teamed up with the Philadelphia Water Department to remove trees and shrubs growing in gaps in the river wall below Columbia Ave. bridge. This vegatation dislodges the stones and degrades the wall ultimately contributing to failure or extensive damage. Based on what we learned on that project Pat Ford from the Philadelphia Water Department has mobilized an extensive effort to complete the section from St. Joe's Boathouse to Boat...house Row. The project will continue through 11/4/15. Volunteers from the Schuylkill River Stewards are working alongside the PWD. If you'd like to volunteer to help contact us here or email Tom Barron@[email protected] Special thanks to the Philadelphia Water Department, and Treekeepers/Philadelphia Parks & Recreation and volunteers Al Wachlin, Eileen Normoyle, Ethan Santiago, Alan Robinson and Tom Barron.

On 1/9/16 five volunteers from the Schuylkill Navy and friends took advantage of some great weather to: 1) Remove obstructions affecting the navigation of the river. Logs identified as being in the path of canoes, kayaks, rowing shells and launches were removed. 2) Cleared invasive plants that were damaging the trees growing on the riverbank. The main focus was on the vines that entangle the trees. Miscellaneous plastic bottles trapped in congested logs and branches were als...o removed. Special thanks to: Al Wachlin-Fairmount Rowing Association Adam Lutz Bob Galli-Fairmount Rowing Association Sharon Collins-Fairmount Rowing Association Tom Barron-University Barge Club See more

The Schuylkill River Stewards Committee in Partnership with the Philadelphia Water Department, the Department of Parks and Recreation and the Head of the Schuylkill Regatta initiates the first large scale reusable water bottle distribution at a major rowing regatta.

On Monday, October 19th, Tapping Our Watershed presents Plastic Trash in Our Rivers What is the impact? What can be done about it? with Alan Robinson and Kelly O’Day, hydrologist, environmental engineer, and environmental consulting experts on the River Litter Management Task Force. Tapping Our Watershed is held on the third Monday of each month at 6 p.m. at National Mechanics in Philadelphia’s Old City. Plastics in the Schuylkill River are an aesthetic pollutant in the f...orm of macroscale bottles, styrofoam and other large objects and are increasingly being recognized as a threat to ecosystems. A measure of the problem: a Philadelphia team collected 4,600 plastic bottles in 1.5 hours. A summary of current research on ecologic and other impacts posed by macro and micro plastics will be given using current data. The technical presentation will be followed by a presentation on the startup of the Task Force with a general discussion and collective brainstorming as to how this flegling program might grow and produce results. Alan Robinson is a geologist/hydrologist with over 35 years of environmental consulting experience in the areas of water resources, stormwater and floodplain management, soil and groundwater investigation/remediation and environmental impact assessment. He is a rower and chair of the Schuylkill Navy of Philadelphia's River Stewardship Committee. Kelly O’Day worked as a professional engineer for 40 years in all phases of water quality, water supply and wastewater disposal in Philadelphia and Boston metropolitan areas. O’Day is currently a retired professional engineer (PE) in Pennsylvania. As a proud E Mt Airy resident, O’Day believes in thinking globally and acting locally. The event is free and open to the public. More information can be found on our Meetup page. Food and drink will be available for purchase at the bar. All ages are welcome, but you must be 21 to drink. We hope you can join us for a fun and informal evening of scientific discussion! Held in a comfortable, happy-hour setting, Tapping Our Watershed invites you to sit back, relax, and raise a glass to water science! Sophisticated enough for the experienced scientist but formatted for the casual guest, this lecture series taps into watershed issues on a deeper level. Follow us on Twitter: @ANSStreamTeam.

On October 7, 2015 the Schuylkill River Stewardship Committee presented a seminar on the design and construction of stormwater systems. Attending were representatives from the Schuylkill Navy, The Mid-Atlantic Youth Anglers, and the Philadelphia Water Department. Thanks to Kelly O'Day for preparing the seminar and the University Barge Club for hosting the event.

Report of the 9-17-15 Lloyd Island Cleanup Project https://drive.google.com//0B2APEqTfOGW_VHZ5YWZIMXIzN/view

On 9/19/15 four volunteers from the Schuylkill Navy removed obstructions affecting the navigation on the river. Logs identified as being in the path of canoes, kayaks, rowing shells and launches were removed. Miscellaneous plastic bottles trapped in congested logs and branches were also removed. Special thanks to: Al Walchin Ethan Santiago... Pat McCann Tom Barron See more

On 9/17/15 twelve volunteers from the Schuylkill Navy and the Philadelphia Canoe Club along with 5 representatives of the Philadelphia Water Department cleaned up the island behind Lloyd Hall. It was a joint effort to remove trash and litter contaminating the shoreline and to improve the visual appearance of the area in anticipation of the large number of visitors to the area for the Papal visit. In all 32 bags were collected, weighing between 10 and 20 pounds per bag as w...ell as a number of large items like tires and one traffic barrel. Three bags were then randomly selected, spread on a tarp and segregated by trash type. The quantity of each type was tabulated for later extrapolation and analysis,. A report similar to that prepared for the 4/11/15 event (see posting below) will be prepared. Special thanks to: From the Philadelphia Water Department: ========================== Pat Ford Malik Pettus Sylvester Brown Luis Vargas Brian Gruver From the Philadelphia Canoe Club =========================== Rich Widmann Beth Fast Forresst Mayo From the Schuylkill Navy ======================== Frances Cichetti Corinne Dieterle Al Penissi John Izzard Paul Laskow Deirdre Mullen Cliff Pearlman Alan Robinson Tom Barron

On September 16, 2015 the River Stewards Committee presented the Webcast "What to Do About Trashy Watersheds" broadcast by the Center for Watershed Protection. Two cases studies were examined. The first case described efforts by LA Sanitation to comply with trash TMDL (Total Daily Maximum Loads) established by the Clean Water Act. The second described the efforts of the District of Columbia Department of Energy and Environment to meet the interjurisdictional TMDL stand...ards for the Anacostia river established by the EPA. Thanks to University Barge Club for hosting the event. For a complete collection of the slides click here: https://drive.google.com/open

East Bank River wall vegetation removal on 8/24/15.