30 high school seniors and juniors from around the country are spending a semester here in NY with Cityterm to learn about New York City. You know these students and their teachers are not only super intelligent but also know what’s hep because part of their focus is the Bronx River. To that end, these intrepid interlocutors met with Drew and myself for a short walking discussion, starting at River Park, 180th Street, strolling through the newly named West Farms Rapids, and ending in Drew Gardens, just South of Tremont Ave.
Our Environmental Issue Walk
The issues discussed varied from early Bronx History to Fish Ladders to Santeria. The guiding concept of the walk was to consider the fact that no issue exists in and of itself. There are a variety of connections that need to be made in order to understand a perceived problem before any attempt can be made to ameliorate it. Lets try to get an idea of this by using the examples given above.
We started out our talk be looking back into Bronx River History and human involvement. Previous generations made the decision that a dam was what was called for at River Park and other areas, at first for mill use, and then for the attractive look and the soothing sounds of the cascade. Now we look at it in consideration of the alewife, an indigenous anadromous fish, and see it as a barrier to normal estuarine ecology. Removal of the dam might actually disrupt life on both sides due to scour and turbidity, so a fish ladder is brought up for consideration. The construction of a ramp on one side of the dam may become what is called an “attractive nuisance,” meaning more people may want to get out there and see what it is, possibly making for a dangerous situation.
Of course, what you want is for people to get out and enjoy the river, but how is it best for them to do that? As we walked down stream, we came upon a pumpkin and a jar of honey set carefully down by the side of the river. To some it was trash, but as it was most likely an offering to Oshun, trash may very well be in the eye of the beholder, or the believer in this case.
The group finished its walk in Drew Gardens where they were treated to a great composting demonstration and given a history of community gardens, and Drew Gardens specifically, by Jennifer P. Jennifer was extremely generous with her time and answered question on topics ranging from why they don’t use horse manure in the garden to why the CSO across the river spills human manure into the river when it rains.
We hope to see this group again sometime in the near future.
DG
April 4, 2008
On Saturday, March 29th 2008, The Bronx River Alliance in conjunction with GLOBE held what I considered tot be a rather successful Water Quality Monitoring training. The Alliance worked out the logistics of invitations and materials, Rocking the Boat provided the space at Hunts Point Riverside Park and some much appreciated labor, and Peter Schmidt from Queens College, ran the show for GLOBE.
All told, 18 participants, ranging from a couple of new volunteers that have never done water quality testing, to several pros that could tell you the quantity of DO in a water sample with one hand tied behind their backs, took part in the training, but something new was learned by all. Organizations represented were Rocking the Boat ( which included VOICE members?), Green Apple Corps, Action at the Point, The Bronx Zoo, and Youth Ministries for Peace and Justice. Peter walked us through not only the reasons that we test water, but also the procedures necessary to making sure your data has some meaning to you and the larger scientific community. To demonstrate this, all of the participants were given thermometers and asked to go outside to “take the temperature.” As they came in, Peter collected the data on the board. The temps ranged from 40 degrees Fahrenheit to “Medium rare,” even though the Weather Underground claims it was about 48 degrees Fahrenheit at the time. The point was well made that you need to use the right tool and have a standard by which to compare your data.
For standards, we used the following for temperature and Dissolved Oxygen. A simple ice bath at sea level should give you a reading of 0 degrees Celsius. Make sure that you keep the thermometer in the water for three minutes and stir it. Water being the only substance that freezes from the top down, missing that stir will give you about a 4 degree difference. For DO, we made a saturated (100%) solution by simply filling a small bottle half way, capping it and the shaking it like mad for about five minutes. This mimics waterfalls were the O2 mixes with the H2O. When you run your titration, it should come out to about 100% saturated if all is working correctly.
The two new protocols introduced were the use of transparency tubes and hydrometers. These are GLOBE protocols that allow us to input this data onto the GLOBE database. The transparency tube is easier and faster than the turbidity test that we had been doing as Bronx River Stewards. The hydrometer is used to find specific gravity of water which is then converted into salinity when cross referenced with temperature.
Soon all Bronx River Stewards will have access to the Alliance’s GLOBE site where data can be entered and accessed by all. Peter walked everybody through that process at the close of our day, as well as demonstrating the amazing resource that the GLOBE web site ( see our links) is for scientists, teachers and students.
I’d like to thank everybody that participated and everybody that had a hand in making the training come off as well as it did. We started early, ran late ( thanks for washing dishes, Rosa and Kathryn!) a covered miles of material. Thanks Peter for making the trip and we hope to have you back soon( Bring the owls and the snakes) for more training and hopefully a canoe trip.
DG
March 30, 2008
I met with two teachers from The Dalton School, Laura and Tracy, and a future Paleontologist, Henry, to begin planning for some future restoration and monitoring. They are partnered with a New Orleans school that is involved in restoration of their wetlands. As we toured the Bronx River Forest, they offered some great ideas on how to put long term a riparian restoration monitoring program in place that is accessable to the younger crowd, in this case, 3rd graders. The preliminary idea would be that a class works with the crew to do some planting, but then also monitors the work of previous classes. In this way, the students get to feel the satisfaction of the planting, get a view into the future of their plantings by monitoring the work of others, and participate in a scientific research that improves our environment. Thank you Laura, Tracy and Henry for your interest and your input. Hope to see you all soon.
DG
March 18, 2008
Not exactly three things that you normally mention in one sentence. Unfortunately, that is what we saw today in a span of about 30 minutes on the river today.
As a part of the pilot bacteria monitoring study, KS and I went up to Muskrat Cove to take some samples. As KS took her samples at the pipe that leads into the river on the right bank just above Nereid avenue, I noticed that the flow from the pipe was stronger than normal and strangely foamy. I sat strangely because the foam dissipated rather quickly and the bubbles burst almost violently. I crawled out on a tree to photograph the foam more closely. Just as I turned off the camera, a muskrat came swimming right at me from up river before diving and disappearing. Despite the suffix part of their name, they are cute, otter like animals.
I didn’t have time to smile about my encounter however, because when I looked down into the flow from the pipe, I realized that suddenly a good bit of the foam was not breaking up. There was a simple, terrible explanation: It was toilet paper. It became obvious that the flow coming from the pipe which it is believed comes from McClean Ave. in Yonkers, was discharging raw sewage into the Bronx River. KS took several samples so we should have an answer beyond the visual in about a week. I have no doubt.
This pipe, an overflow for reservoir water, I believe coming from the Hillview Reservoir, is expected to have some flow even in dry weather. The illegal connections were a part of a mult-million dollar lawsuit a couple of years ago by the city of NY . Yonkers has since eliminated 50 or 60 illegal connections to this pipe, but apparently some remain. Some time ago, the city of Yonkers contracted Malcom Pirnie, inc, for consultation in the matter in an effort to complete the remediation. Just what work they have done is yet to be seen. Judging by what was flowing from that pipe, remediation still needs to be done. Video and pictures soon to follow.
Act II Scene I At 174th St., we were not greeted by homeless people or geese. Instead we found 3 NYPD frogmen preparing for a dive in the Bronx River. They were “ Looking for stuff,” as a part of an “ongoing investigation.” Sorry, but I didn’t ask anymore questions. The ideas popped just into my head.
March 17, 2008
While out on an unrelated trip, we bumped into a class from Banana Kelly at Burke Bridge getting into their first water quality monitoring of the Spring. The students were hard at work, searching their memories for the protocols that they hadn’t followed in several months. Their teachers were not handing over any easy answers, opting instead to get the students to use their own knowledge and reason to aid in recall. Nice to see them out there doing the hard work that helps with the Bronx River Restoration.
DG
March 12, 2008
The GAC crew hit the shore of the Bronx River today for their first venture into water quality monitoring this afternoon. 9 crew members and their leader, KF, learned the basics of testing, including pH, DO, transparency, velocity and more. At least 4 members were not cowed by the 7.5 degree Celsius water, and they climbed right in for sampling. The crew was quite energetic and their interest in the work made the time go by much too quickly. I hope we get to see them out on the river again in the near future.
March 11, 2008
2/29/08
- A group of students From the Bronx Green Middle School took part in a data collecting exercise in The Bronx River Forest today, aided by our Conservation Crew. The students could be seen all along the banks of the river making simple maps, finding their GPS coordinates, estimating the heights of trees and conducting some water quality testing. Our incredible Conservation Crew let the kids discover some of their own methods for estimating sizes and collecting other forms of data, but also shared their own methods while teaching them about water transparency and testing for pH. Of course, these students brought a tremendous amount of knowledge with them so we learned somethings as well.
- We were lucky enough to see a dozen Mallards and the crew also identified the more rare Hooded Merganser pair doing quite a bit of diving in the river. As one student said, “Hey, look; the girl duck has a Mohawk!” With its diet of small fish and aquatic invertebrates, there must be more life in that cold river than we could easily see.
- Thank you toBronx Green Middle School for giving us the opportunity to work with your students.
March 1, 2008
KS, JD, AM and myself went to 3 different sites on the Bronx River today to take water samples. KS and JD are helping us to begin a bacteria monitoring program that we hope to soon make a part of our regular Stewards Program. They will take the samples up to SUNY Purchase for incubation. At this point, they are working as much on the method as they are on the actual testing. Any ideas from our monitors would be gladly accepted.
As a part of her study, KS has chosen three sites that she will regularly monitor for the next few months. Those sites are: Muskrat Cove, to get a reading on the river as it enters the Bronx, Mitsubishi Riverwalk, to monitor a midway point, And 174th street, which is just South of the CSO at Drew Gardens. We have a few pictures. See Brave KS as she samples around the ice at Mitsubishi. We’ll make sure to share the data as it comes in.
DG
February 28, 2008
Yesterday was the first official Bronx River forest tour! With the help of Elaine and Michelle we were able to take 7 students from Troop 15 out onto the river to help with water quality monitoring. The six young men from Troop 15 were all very eager to learn about the health of the river dispite the cold. We had a great time out on the river yesterday and everyone had a chance to see that the river is in much better shape than it was 40 years ago! We have much more to do and look forward to leading many more river walks in the months to come. Spread the word…the river is a living, breathing, thriving body of life!
Best,
Drew
Bronx River Education Intern
February 21, 2008
If you are interested in sharing ideas and information about the river, sign up for an edublog account and write a comment here. I will add you to the member list! You can just comment if you like, but if you would like to contribute posts and more, you must be registered with edublogs. Thanks
Damian Griffin
Education Director
Bronx River Alliance
1 Bronx River Parkway
Bronx, NY 10462
www.bronxriver.org
January 31, 2008
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