Report from the President
October 2002
Our Board of Directors is pleased to announce our
officers for the 2002 – 2003 year.
Peter Wulfhorst is our president, Patricia Messineo, Secretary, Linda
Cioppa, Treasurer, Joyce Laudise, and President-elect. We will introduce them at our next general
meeting on October 5, 2002, 2:00 pm to be held at the Walker Lake Clubhouse. At that meeting, we will conduct a Safe
Water Clinic jointly with the Penn State Cooperative Extension. You are welcome at that meeting even though
you have not registered to have your water sample tested. Come for information and meet our group.
The past
year has been very positive for us. We
welcomed nearly 165 contributing members who have given us much helpful
information. Our first Growing Greener
Grant was completed and we used that money to establish our monitoring program,
train volunteers, buy equipment and send information to our community. Our
second Growing Greener Grant allows us to continue monitoring our water
quality, forming a database to be used to ascertain our needs, which the third
grant will address next year.
Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection has received considerable
funding as the result of the overwhelming interest shown by all watershed
members concerned with their environment and property values. We are pleased to be part of this wave of
funding.
We have a
web presence within Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection
website. Find us at www.dep.state.pa.us/growgreen/. Jeff Seeds, of Walker Lake, is working to
establish our own website to keep us all up to date. That site is not ready yet
but will be at www. twcwc.com. Email is established at watershed@twcwc.com.
Zoning rules are constantly changing. Shohola approved changes to ordinances
regarding exceptions to the 50 foot rule from water bodies. There are limits to: dock extensions, patios,
and structural walkways. Covered
structures are not permitted within this 50 foot barrier even on private
lakefront properties. The Shohola
Supervisors meet every first Thursday of the month, we need to be there and
make our concerns known. Changes in
Township, County, State and Federal Laws will affect our mission. We must assure waters remain healthy and
pleasant, understand the characteristics of our watershed, protect, restore and
enhance our watershed, encourage participation, and cooperate with other
organizations. We have formed liaisons
with watersheds in Shohola, Milford, Delaware Highlands, and Dwarfskill. In
addition we are involved with Pike County, Penn State, and the state of
Pennsylvania. Davis Hess, Secretary of
the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection visited us and was very
pleased with our monitoring program.
Our monitors report that our waters are clean and
healthy. We need to insure that they
stay that way to protect our property values.
Along with water quality, our volunteer monitors will check for macro
invertebrates and Zebra Mussels. We are
also concerned about the use of gasoline motors on oversize boats on our lakes.
We are asking that you renew your membership for the
2002 – 2003. You will find the registration
form with this newsletter.
Ralph Cioppa
The PA DEP has a zebra
mussel-monitoring program. Acting on
reports of zebra mussels in Lake Wallenpaupack, the Lake Wallenpaupack Watershed
Management District notified the DEP and professional divers were sent to
investigate. No zebra mussels were
found. If you should see or suspect you
see zebra mussels let the Watershed Conservancy president know or call Tony
Shaw at DEP. He can be reached at 717
783 3638.
Zebra
mussels are native to Eastern Europe.
They were introduced to the US during the mid ’80s when ocean-going
ships released infested ballast water into the lower Great Lakes. Adults are no larger than 2 inches and have
a distinct zebra pattern.
The PA DEP
states that these aquatic pests are a serious nuisance. Adult zebra mussels can filter about a quart
of water each day, removing plankton, a major food source for fish and other
shellfish. Zebra mussels readily form
clusters on submerged objects, quickly clogging the piping systems of
industrial plants and water or electric power utilities. Boats, trailers and other water recreation
equipment can easily transport juvenile or young adult zebra mussels from one
body of water to another.
The DEP has suggestions to keep the
zebra mussels from entering a watershed.
INSPECT your boat, trailer and all boating equipment that gets wet and
remove any plants and animals that are visible before leaving any water
body. DRAIN water from the motor, live
well, bilge and transom wells while on land before leaving any water body. EMPTY your bait bucket on land before
leaving the water body. NEVER release
live bait into a water body or release aquatic animals from one water body into
another. WASH and DRY your boat and
equipment including tackle. This can be done on your way home or once you
return home. Since zebra mussels can
survive 10-14 days out of water it is important to rinse your boat and
equipment that normally gets wet with hot tap water or wash wet gear using a
concentration of ½ cup of salt to 1gallon of hot water. Salt will kill the mussels. However, you must thoroughly rinse with
fresh water to prevent damage to gear from the salt or SPRAY and DRY your boat
and equipment with high-pressure water at least 5 days before launching
somewhere else.
These suggestions are also helpful
to keep out invasive non-native aquatic plants that can easily hitch a ride on
water equipment that goes from one lake to another. These aggressive plants without natural enemies can overwhelm
native species. Often they do not
provide adequate food and shelter for local wildlife. One such invader is
Eurasian water milfoil that has been found in some Pocono lakes. The spaghetti-like stems branch repeatedly
at the water’s surface creating a canopy of floating stems and foliage that
shades native plants giving milfoil a competitive edge. Out of control, the plant can interfere with
swimming and boating. Eurasian water
milfoil has not been found in any of our 3 Watershed Conservancy Lakes.
Joyce Laudise
Is Your Drinking Water Safe? Homeowners and business people often take it for granted that the water
coming out of their tap is safe for drinking. There are a number of potentially
harmful substances that can harm your family or customers. These include
bacteria, nitrates, iron and manganese. Some of these substances have health
effects and others can cause unwanted stains and odors. It is also important that residents of the
Twin & Walker Creeks Watershed understand the importance of their drinking
water supply and the protection of our watershed.
On Saturday, October 5, Twin &
Walker Creeks Watershed Conservancy and Penn State Cooperative Extension will
have a Safe Drinking Water Clinic from 2-4 pm at the Walker Lake Club House. This clinic is designed for people
interested in having their drinking water tested and finding out how to protect
and maintain their water systems. If
you depend on your own well or spring for your drinking water, it is your
responsibility to have your water tested periodically at a certified
water-testing lab. No government agency is going to require you to have your
water tested. Peter Wulfhorst, Community Development Extension Agent and George
Prosser of Prosser Labs will be presenting the program. In addition, Prosser Labs will be offering
water testing for a fee. Containers for
water testing are available at the Pike County Cooperative Extension office.
There is no charge for the program.
However, registration
and a fee are required to test your water. For more information or to register,
contact the Pike County Cooperative Extension office by phone at
570-296-3400.
Peter Wulfhorst
LAKE BOTTOM MAPPING: Joe and Pat
Messineo have joined P.D. McCullough and have taken over 1450 data readings of
the Big Twin Lake. This represents only
20% of the Twin Lakes area not including Walker Lake. It looks like this project will extend well into 2003. We are using global positioning system (GPS)
readings to insure that we monitor the depth in the lakes at the same place
each time. We expect to use GPS when we
sample and monitor all our sites.
P. D. McCullough
LAKE AND STREAM SAMPLING PROGRAM: Under the terms of our second
Growing Greener Grant from the Commonwealth [the "assessment" grant],
the Conservancy was to provide sufficient trained personnel to accomplish the
sampling and analytical tasks required by our grant. To that end, about seven
months in 2001 were devoted to preparing the training program. The actual training
was done on three alternate Saturdays this spring [2002]. We were very pleased
with the number of volunteers. Seventeen people within the Watershed are now
prepared to step in and not only sample our lakes and streams, but also perform
the analyses in the Conservancy's "Hydro Lab".
As this
Newsletter goes to press, we will have completed 75% of the expected lake
samples and 25% of the stream samples. Why the difference? All of the lake samples are to be taken
before October 1, while the stream samples are to be taken in each of the four
seasons.
Regarding
analysis, time-sensitive tests, such as dissolved oxygen, pH, and temperature
are done in the boat or on the shore immediately as samples are taken. Others,
e.g. chemical [nutrient] tests are done back in the Hydro-Lab. Some tests are
also done at the F.X. Browne Lab in Marshall's Creek especially chlorophyll A
and phytoplankton both of which require special equipment. There has also been
one series of samples taken during a storm event. On August 28, 2002, rain
began to fall just before mid-night and the forecast was for an inch or more.
Our storm-testing protocol calls for capturing inlet stream samples [1] as the
rain begins, followed by [2] samples at the height of the run-off and [3] again
as the run-off returns to normal. We measured 1.9 inches of rain during this
storm and the analytical data will be used to calculate the nutrient loading
arriving in our lakes when such storms occur. As you can see, our volunteers
agree to get very wet. Sampling of five such storm events is required by our
grant. Space permitting in the next Newsletter, a picture of the class and a
list of their names will be published.
What have
we learned so far? The water in all three lakes and five streams is indeed high
quality. We are fortunate to have no industry, sewage treatment plants or
landfill activities, little commerce and few farms. Our environmental concerns
are related to road run-off and private home sanitation and maintenance. We are only now
beginning to see the results of the chemical analysis, so it is too soon to
come to any comprehensive conclusions. One early observation is that all three
lakes have high levels of phosphorous in the lowest layer of the water column.
The chief source is almost certainly terrestrial run-off. More will be said of this in the future. The
effect of our yearlong drought will also be examined.
Dave Kirk
__________________________________________________________________________________
2002 – 2003 Conservancy Membership
Application
I am concerned with the future quality and quantity of the water resources in our neighborhood and would like to support the conservation efforts of the Twin & Walker Creeks Watershed Conservancy through membership.
Name
___________________________________________Phone ___________________
Mailing Address _____________________________ Email
___________________
____________________________ š I may be interested with the ________________________________ volunteer monitoring efforts.
Check Type of Membership
š Senior / Student $5.00 Mail
this form with check payable to:
š
Individual $10.00 Twin & Walker Creeks Watershed
Conservancy
š Family $15.00 100 Walker Lake
š Corporate $40.00 Shohola, PA 18458
š In support of the Conservancy’s efforts,
I would like to provide an additional gift in the amount of _________________.
TOTAL ENCLOSED