Water Day held in Terre Hill Park

Terre Hill resident Linda Saad, who co-coordinated the Water Day held in Terre Hill Park on Sept. 26 with Rhonda Hakundy of the Pennsylvania Southeast Region of the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), begins preparing for the field day about three months in advance. "It takes three months to coordinate (with) volunteers, schools, and township (representatives)," Saad explained. Appropriately, on the day of the event, it rained. "It started pouring 15 minutes before the buses arrived," recalled Saad.

But a little "liquid sunshine" as Terre Hill Borough employee Valerie Gregory called the rain, did not dampen the spirits of the 300 fifth-grade students. The children were transported from local public elementary schools - Blue Ball, Brecknock, New Holland - and Pathways, a hybrid Christian school, to the educational event where they participated from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. as guests of the ELANCO Source Water Collaborative.

Saad and 25 volunteers were prepared to teach, assist with teaching, and direct students and school teachers to 10 stations representing five different water-quality topics. Groups of 20 to 30 students visited the stations for opportunities to learn about the water cycle, a rain garden, stream buffers, and pollution control and to view surface and ground water simulators that show how water and pollution move on and below the surface. A favorite station shows children how human waste is disposed of. "They get flushed, and they move through the system, and they love that," said Saad of the station, which is called "Where does your poop go?" "It's interactive, so the kids move around."

This is the fourth time Water Day has been held in the park, and at each event the students have taken part in a service project. Past projects have included planting native trees and creating a rain garden. This year, supplies were provided for students to help plant a pollinator garden.

Saad said that the field day was the brainchild of Terre Hill Borough Mayor Bob Rissler. "When we started, it was important to reach youth," she recalled, noting that the collaborative had already made efforts to reach out to homeowners and the agricultural community. "Youth are the future of water quality in our county," Saad added, noting that most county streams are impaired.

Gregory pointed out that water quality in local streams has improved in the last several decades due to changes in farming practices. "We have a lot of grants coming available to implement good management," said Saad, who noted that more than $7 million was available last year to help implement practices that will aid in protecting the water. Saad added that the ELANCO Water Collaborative meets with larger collaboratives in the area to "look for priority areas that need to be addressed with those funds." Saad also pointed out that volunteers from the Environmental Protection Agency, DEP, and the Penn State Master Watershed Steward Program sent volunteers to the field day. More information about the ELANCO Water Source Collaborative may be found at https://elancowater.org.