Wissahickon Watershed

General Information:

The Wissahickon Creek Watershed encompasses an area of 64 square miles, which includes 15 municipalities in Montgomery County and the City of Philadelphia. Wissahickon Creek begins in Montgomery Township and flows for approximately 27 miles where it meets with the Schuylkill River at the end of Lincoln Drive. The watershed includes extensive park and recreational areas as well as a designated use for trout stock fisheries. The Wissahickon Creek is also a source of drinking water for the City of Philadelphia

Municipalities within this watershed drainage include: Upper Dublin Township, Lower Gwynedd Township, Whitemarsh Township, Springfield Township, Whitpain Township, Upper Gwynedd Township, Abington Township, Montgomery Township, Ambler Borough, Lansdale Borough, North Wales Borough, Cheltenham Township, Horsham Township, Worcester Township, Upper Moreland Township, and the City of Philadelphia.

Partnership:

The Wissahickon Watershed Partnership was re-initiated by the Philadelphia Water Department in November of 2005 with the task of creating an Integrated Watershed Management Plan for this area.

For more information or to learn how you can get involved with the partnership please contact:
Paul Racette
Partnership Facilitator - Pennsylvania Environmental Council
Phone: (215) 592-7020 x112
Email: pracette@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 for the Wissahickon Creek Watershed is currently under development.
• A Comprehensive Characterization of the Water Quality, Habitat and Biology for the Wissahickon Creek Watershed was completed in 2007. To view the subsequent report, please click here.
• A Wissahickon Creek River Conservation Plan was completed in 2000 by the Fairmount Park Commission and the Montgomery County Planning Commission; to view this plan please visit: http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/brc/rivers/riversconservation/registry/
• Sandy Run Creek River Conservation Plan completed by the Sandy Run Coalition in 2003; to view this plan please visit: http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/brc/rivers/riversconservation/registry/
• Floodplain Mapping Study: Sandy Run and Ambler Area Watersheds underway, more information available at: http://www.csc.temple.edu/projects/projects_sandyrun.htm
• Fort Washington Area Flooding and Transportation Improvement Study underway, more information available at: http://www.csc.temple.edu/projects/projects_ftwashington.htm
• A 'Special Area Management Plan' is currently being developed for the Upper Wissahickon Watershed in Montgomery County to demonstrate the critical area planning process established under Act 220 of 2002—The Pennsylvania Water Resources Planning Act. More information is available at: http://www2.montcopa.org/planning/cwp/view,a,1607,q,58675.asp
• 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/.
• The Philadelphia Water Department has recently completed the Wissahickon Creek Detention Basin Inventory and Retrofit Program; information associated with this initiative can be found at: http://www.watershedscience.info/basininventory.html.