A Collaborative Led by the Pennsylvania Environmental Council Honors Stroud Center for Its Role in Protecting and Restoring the Delaware River Watershed
In recognition of its commitment to accurate science and supportive nature-based stormwater management solutions and salt reduction, a Philadelphia-based watershed restoration collaborative selected the Stroud Center for the Watershed Champion award.
Stroud Center Executive Director David B. Arscott along with Director of Watershed Restoration Matthew Ehrhart and Senior Research Scientist Jackson, Ph.D., accepted the award on February 12, 2025 at the Abington Club in Jenkintown, Pennsylvania.
The Stroud Center’s Role as a Watershed Champion
Since 2013, the Stroud Center has played a vital role in the Delaware River Watershed Initiative (DRWI), a collaboration of over 50 organizations working to protect drinking water for 15 million people across four states in the Delaware River basin, from New York to Delaware.
The Stroud Center has advanced knowledge of the watershed, designed and implemented state-of-the-art ag restoration, evaluated the effects of improved land management, and empowered residents with tools and knowledge to engage with resource managers. It has provided technical assistance for planning, monitoring, and data analysis, supporting volunteers collecting data from hundreds of sampling locations.
Activities with volunteers and community groups ranged from environmental sensor repairs and online seminars to fostering a community science network that tracks water quality across the region. By collecting water chemistry data and deploying hundreds of remote sensors, Stroud Center researchers and community science volunteers have gained valuable insights into how temperature and road salt pollute streams and threaten water quality and stream health.
Within three DRWI areas, the Stroud Center partnered with landowners and farmers to plant streamside forests and implement stream-friendly practices. All of this work is designed to improve water quality, habitat, and biodiversity measurably. It would not have been possible without the generosity of landowners and the farming community’s openness to innovation.
Stroud Center experts continue to review and interpret data, document the impacts of conservation efforts, and, with partners, tell the story of the Delaware River watershed through data and scientific modeling.
The Upstream Suburban Philadelphia Watershed Collaborative
The Upstream Suburban Philadelphia Watershed Collaborative, led by the Pennsylvania Environmental Council, launched in 2013 with funding from the William Penn Foundation to implement and promote watershed restoration projects. Working as part of the DRWI, the collaborative has focused on the use of green stormwater infrastructure as a way to protect, restore, and mimic the natural water cycle. Its focus area includes Philadelphia-area streams that have long been impacted by flooding and pollution due to poorly designed urban development.
