What is a watershed?

 A watershed is all of the land area bounded by highlands (hills large and small) whose waters drain into a single body of water. The destination can be a stream, lake, river, ocean or wetland such as a marsh. This tendency for water to join other waters is due to a simple principle: water always runs downhill. Tiny streams grow from springs or from rain and snow that collects on the forest floor or lawns. The tiny streams run in their tiny valleys to merge with bigger streams that combine with other streams to eventually flow into rivers. The tiny streams that start a watershed are called the headwaters. One watershed is separated from the adjacent watersheds around it by the highlands. Another name for watershed is “basin”. 

Darby Creek

The watershed that occupies most of Easttown Township is the Darby Creek watershed. The headwaters of the Darby Creek watershed are found in Easttown and its neighboring Townships. The origin of the Darby Creek in the west is near Route 30 where Route 30 intersects with Old Lancaster Road near the Daylesford Train Station. From there, the Darby Creek runs through the Upper Main Line YMCA, then through Leopard Lake, behind Beaumont Elementary School, and through Waterloo Mills. As it leaves Easttown Township it flows through Newtown Square, joins Cobbs Creek then flows through the John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge at Tinicum. The stream waters from our area combine with other streams in the Darby Creek watershed to nourish the wetlands in the Heinz Refuge. The freshwater marsh at Heinz is a major stopover for thousands of migrating birds yearly. 

Crum Creek

On the west side of Easttown Township, mostly west of Route 252, the streams are part of the Crum Creek watershed. The Crum Creek runs into the Springton Reservoir on Route 252. 

Trout Run

The northeastern portion of Easttown Township is in the Trout Run watershed, which is part of the Schuylkill River watershed. 

Easttown’s three watersheds are nested within the larger watershed of the Delaware River watershed. The body of water that enters the sea through the Delaware Bay, claims all of the subwatersheds that drain into it as part of its watershed or basin. The Delaware River Basin includes parts of New York, New Jersey, Delaware, and Pennsylvania. 

There are many ways that Easttown’s watersheds enrich our lives. The streams that run through our Township can be fished for trout, sunfish, and bass. Birds that use the creeks and ponds in our watershed including wood ducks, mallards, and belted kingfishers. Mammals include whitetail deer, raccoons, red foxes, and occasionally, beavers. Green frogs, wood frogs, bullfrogs, redbacked salamanders, painted turtles and, snapping turtles are typical amphibians and reptiles that call local creeks and ponds their homes. Historical sites abound along the Township creeks include the Cassatt Mansion at the Upper Main Line YMCA and Waterloo Mills. 

Born as a tiny spring bubbling out of a wet hillside on a rainy spring day in Easttown, a creek sees a lot on its journey to the sea. It flows past turtles sunning themselves on a log, frogs croaking to call for a mate or a robin throwing water over its wings for a bath. It hears children laughing in schoolyards. It flows quietly past a young person sitting on a bench writing a poem. The creek grows up to become part of the Delaware River where it can peer up to see huge ships that have come from all over the globe. It spends some time as part of the Atlantic Ocean, providing a home to fish, dolphins, and whales. Eventually its waters are swept back up into the clouds by evaporation, and falls back down on the land on another rainy day.

What is your watershed? Are you in the Crum Creek, Darby Creek or Trout Run watershed? The next time you cross a bridge, large or small, over a stream, ask yourself if you know where that stream is going, and where it has been.