Lopatcong Creek cleanup in Easton Express Times

http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/phillipsburg/index.ssf/2014/09/lopatcong...

September 4, 2014

Environmentalists and anglers who want to keep the Lopatcong Creek pristine will don their work clothes and gather their garbage bags for a cleanup Saturday.

The Lopatcong Creek Initiative and the Ridge & Valley Chapter of Trout Unlimited are teaming up for the event from 9 a.m. to noon. Volunteers should convene at the empty lot near 1016 S. Main St. in Phillipsburg.

The creek is a tributary to the Delaware River and, as such, provides drinking water to a large portion of Pennsylvania and New Jersey, Lopatcong Creek Initiative Project Manager Juniper Leifer said.

"We really want to raise awareness throughout the community that we live in a watershed and everything you do on your land will affect the water below," Leifer said.

The 22-square-mile watershed includes Harmony, Lopatcong, Greenwich and Pohatcong townships, the borough of Alpha and the town of Phillipsburg. Fishermen and outdoorsmen have always held the creek in esteem, but it tends to go overlooked by residents, Leifer said. That's what the initiative, funded through the New Jersey Highlands Coalition by the William Penn Foundation, aims to change.

Leifer said they want to educate people to make better choices, make improvements at the municipal level, and see people use the creek more for recreation opportunities. Although water temperatures have been on the rise, there aren't any major issues along the creek, she said. Native species of plants and trees can make a big difference in keeping the waterway healthy, she said.

The creek is also a trout habitat, she said. Brian Cowden, a member of the Ridge & Valley Chapter of Trout Unlimited, said it's home to native brook trout in the headwaters and wild brown trout further downstream. The trout need clean, cold water -- just like people need for drinking, Cowden said.

A limestone aquifer provides natural cold water year-round, he said.

"It's a wonderful gem of a wild trout stream," Cowden said.

There's been farming too close to the banks of the stream in some spots, and some of the banks were widened for the Morris Canal, he said. In more urban areas during a rainstorm, water floods into the creek, making it wider and shallower. The Trout Unlimited chapter wants to put in plants to stabilize the banks, filter runoff and shade the stream.

That has a significant positive impact, Cowden said, noting the watershed provides drinking water for major cities in southern New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

"The more we can do to protect that water upstream, the better off the folks downstream will be," Cowden said.

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IF YOU GO

Volunteers for the cleanup should meet Saturday at the empty lot near 1016 S. Main St. Garbage bags, gloves and instructions will be available. The cleanup is scheduled from 9 a.m. to noon. Contact Juniper Leifer (juniper@njhighlandscoalition.org) or Brian Cowden (BCowden@tu.org) with questions.