New Stream Signs Invites Guests to Explore and Protect Our Watershed

Exploration of Saw Mill Run is without question the most popular part of all Riverbend education programs. And to support that educational experience Riverbend added one interpretive sign last year, “Clean Water Starts with You.” The sign highlights the connection of our homes to the Saw Mill Run and Schuylkill River watersheds, how what happens on the land surrounding our streams impacts stream health and then provides tips about how we can keep our waterways clean.

This fall, we’re adding “You Can Be a Stream Scientist,” generously supported by Aqua, our water company. Its interactive flipbook invites guests to try five stream investigations based on Penn State Extension’s First Investigation of Stream Health (FISH) protocol.

Visitors can check water temperature, observe plants along the stream banks, and discover how macroinvertebrates (small aquatic animals) give scientists clues about stream health. Each investigation encourages guests to look closely and explore the connections between the stream and its surrounding landscape.

The experience closes with a simple message: “When we care for our streams, we care for all the life that depends on them.”

Look for the new sign at Riverbend’s “upper stream” late this fall!

For more information about the FISH protocol, check out this website https://extension.psu.edu/fish-first-investigation-of-stream-health