We are currently engaged in important projects and activities within
our watershed. The success of these
programs depends upon the tireless efforts of our dedicated members. We
welcome the involvement of all those who are interested in contributing. These are wonderful opportunities to become involved
in environmental preservation at a local level.
The
Plan is the result of a year of research, computer mapping, and public
meetings conducted by a Steering Committee consisting of members of the Elk
Creeks Watershed Association, representatives from local municipalities,
landowners and residents of the watershed, the Brandywine Conservancy, and the
Pennsylvania Environmental Council.
The Plan will provide the Elk Creeks Watershed Association with
information and guidance for its important education, outreach, and
conservation activities.
It is our hope that the municipalities, landowners, residents and
businesses of the Elk Creeks watershed will adopt and use the Elk Creeks
Watershed Conservation Plan as a starting point for working together in
carrying out the vision of a healthy watershed.
At the Elk Creeks Watershed River Conservation Plan public meeting, held
Thursday, November 29th
at the Oxford Friends Meeting, watershed issues and priorities were
presented and feedback was solicited. The
meeting was run by Judy Jordan, of the Brandywine Conservancy, who ECWA
contracted to research and write the plan.
The meeting was attended by people from various parts of the
watershed, by a few municipal officials, and by the ECWA board.
Through subsequent township meetings within the watershed, we spread the
word about the plan and its value in promoting the health of our watershed.
Feedback was varied but focused on what could be done
to further the goals of the plan. A
large part of the feedback related to the “desperate” need to involve,
educate, and convince two important groups on watershed priorities:
municipal officials and new residents.
Another theme in the feedback focused on developing a quick-response
chain in order to act on day-to-day problems discovered in the watershed.
Although we wish this plan could have been implemented
before major development began in our watershed, we are fortunate to be able
to implement it now. The
feedback received reinforces and prioritizes watershed strategies and
strengthens our resolve to achieve those goals.
Click here for more
details about the Rivers Conservation Plan.
Click here to
view a map of the Elk Creeks Watershed.
In November, 2000, members of the ECWA, in partnership
with the Octoraro Watershed Association, Lincoln University, and the Alliance
for the Chesapeake Bay completed the first phase of a project at Lincoln
University. The goal of the project is the restoration of a small
section of woodlands on University property, through which a small tributary
of the Big Elk flows. In April 2002, we refurbished a section of
residential quadrangle with gravel walkways and native plants.
Click here for more
details about the Lincoln University Woodlands Trail project.
