The following column was written by Middle Susquehanna Riverkeeper Association summer intern Theadora Duane. You can contact her directly via email by clicking here. 

​We’ve heard it all before. One domino can cause the rest to topple. One beat of a butterfly’s wings can alter life as we know it. One drop of water causes wide ripples. One move can change everything.

While these cliches are a bit dramatic, they do hold some truth.

Taken literally, the ripples caused by a drop of water are simply a result of energy transfer and surface tension. Depending on what’s in those drops, though, the impacts exceed that which we can directly see.

Update (Aug. 15, 2024): Due to continued high water levels from last weekend's tropical storm, the Middle Susquehanna Riverkeeper Association will not be able to offer its Riverwalk programs as planned at the Sunbury Riverfest on Aug. 17. River levels are too high to safely get to the islands where much of the programming was planned. 

The Middle Susquehanna Riverkeeper Association will be offering several guided Riverwalks on Saturday, Aug. 17, 2024, during the annual Sunbury RiverFest event, depending on the weather and water levels. 

The Riverwalks will be offered from the Sunbury Boat Launch located on the south end of town near the Southside Bait Shop. They will include walking across a part of the river to an island and exploring the aquatic ecology, from shoreline through a trail across the center of the island to see various stages of the ecosystem. 

These programs will be capped at 10 people per group and will only be for those 10 years old and older. Children under 18 should be accompanied by an adult. Participants should wear clothing they can get wet and muddy in with proper footwear (water shoes with hard soles), sunscreen and bug spray. 

Videographer Michael Kinney will be sharing a special presentation of footage from his 24-day, 228-mile paddle across the West Branch of the Susquehanna River in May of 2024 at an event scheduled for 1 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, at the Campus Theatre in Lewisburg.

Kinney left the town of Cherry Tree on May 1 in a kayak with his girlfriend, Missy, providing support and supplies from the road until he paddled to Curwensville, where he switched to a canoe and she joined him on the water. They chronicled the entire trip via video and photos and have developed a special film to recap the adventure and what was learned along the way.

The Middle Susquehanna Riverkeeper Association hosted its fourth public Floating Classroom of the 2024 summer season on Tuesday, Aug. 6, with a hellbender theme aboard the Hiawatha Paddleboat in Williamsport

More than 50 people participated in the program which included a lower-level presentation by Matt Kaunert, of Lycoming College's Clean Water Institute, and two of his students, on their current hellbender research and nest box efforts. 

On the upper level, Middle Susquehanna Riverkeeper John Zaktansky and association Board President Michael Kinney talked about various efforts to bring awareness to the species, including videos, songs, art projects, legal cases and where things stand with potential protections for a species that has seen a massive reduction in habitat across the greater watershed. 

​The following post was written by Middle Susquehanna Riverkeeper Association summer intern Jay Schofield. Send a message to Jay via email by clicking here.

Innovative approaches to ecosystem restoration are emerging across the USA, and one standout initiative is the Beaver Dam Analog (BDA) project.

Led by Matt Wilson at Susquehanna University's Freshwater Research Institute in Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania, BDAs are dams made to mimic those made by beavers. These dams are strategically placed along fast-running streams to combat erosion and restore groundwater levels.

​“We’ve got a lot of stormwater runoff that comes in at the edge of Susquehanna’s property upstream, and we wanted to better capture that,” Wilson said. “These dams will slow flow down, and because they’re made of sticks and stones, they will let water pass through the middle during a big storm.”

Nearly 50 people participated in the July 16, 2024, Floating Classroom aboard the Hiawatha Paddleboat in Williamsport hosted by the Middle Susquehanna Riverkeeper Association.

The theme was focused on the Louisiana Waterthrush, general birding and citizen science. Presenters included West Branch Regional Director Andrew Bechdel on the lower level with an overview of the Louisiana Waterthrush and the characteristics that make it an important waterway indicator and how people can be valuable citizen scientists. 

Shortly after the conclusion of the July 10, 2024, West Branch version of the Middle Susquehanna Riverkeeper Association's HERYN (Helping Engage our River's Youth with Nature) program at the Bald Eagle State Park near Howard, PA, Kate Elias, of State College, couldn't resist thanking Regional Director Andrew Bechdel for providing the experience.

"Eleanor and Peter just got home," she shared in an email about her daughter and son. "They had SUCH a great time! Thank you so very much!"

They were among the dozen students who participated in the first expansion of the original HERYN experience offered at the 1,000-acre Foster Joseph Sayers Reservoir, a popular boating, fishing and swimming destination in Centre County.