Darby-Cobbs Watershed

General Information:

The Darby-Cobbs Watershed drains approximately 80 square miles, through the Tinicum Wetlands and finally to the mouth of the Darby Creek at the Delaware Estuary. This area includes portions of Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, and Philadelphia Counties. The watershed is often subdivided into the Cobbs Creek, Darby Creek, and Tinicum subwatersheds for planning purposes.

Municipalities located within this drainage area include: Aldan Borough, Clifton Heights Borough, Collingdale Borough, Colwyn Borough, Darby Borough, Darby Township, East Lansdowne Borough, Easttown Township, Folcroft Borough, Glenolden Borough, Haverford Township, Lansdowne Borough, Marple Township, Millbourne Borough, Narberth Borough, Newtown Township, Norwood Borough, Prospect Park Borough, Radnor Township, Ridley Township, Rutledge Borough, Sharon Hill Borough, Springfield Township, Tinicum Borough, Upper Darby Township, Yeadon Borough and the City of Philadelphia.

Partnership:

In 1999, the Philadelphia Water Department initiated the Darby-Cobbs Watershed Partnership in an effort to connect residents, businesses, and government as neighbors and stewards of the watershed. Since then, the Partnership has been active in developing a vision for the watershed and guiding and supporting subsequent planning activities within the watershed.

Partnership Mission Statement:

"To improve the environmental health and safe enjoyment of the Darby-Cobbs watershed by sharing resources through cooperation of the residents and other stakeholders in the watershed. The goals of the initiative are to protect, enhance, and restore the beneficial uses of the Darby-Cobbs waterways and riparian areas.”

For more information or to learn how you can get involved with the partnership please contact:
Khiet Luong
Partnership Facilitator - Pennsylvania Environmental Council
Phone: (215) 592-7020 x107
Email: kluong@pecpa.org

Watershed Planning:

Watershed management seeks to mitigate the adverse physical, biological, and chemical impacts of land uses as surface and ground waters are transported throughout the watershed to the waterways. The partnership seeks to achieve higher levels of environmental improvement by sharing information and resources.

• An integrated watershed management plan (IWMP) was completed for the Cobbs portion of this watershed area in the summer of 2004; please click here to view plan.
• A River Conservation Plan was completed by the Darby Creek Valley Association (DCVA) for the entire watershed drainage area in 2005 and is available at: http://www.dcva.org/wnew.html.
• An act 167 Stormwater Management Plan was completed for the Darby-Cobbs Watershed in 2004 under the leadership of the Delaware County Planning Department. The completed plan can be found at: http://www.co.delaware.pa.us/planning/watersheditems.html
• Please follow the link below to the USGS website to view real-time water quality data from USGS Gage Stations within this watershed. PWD-USGS Water Resources Monitoring website: http://pa.water.usgs.gov/pwd/.