Natural Lands outlines Darby Creek resilience plan, aims for mid‑July final draft

Natural Lands planner Kate Rahman told the Delaware County Sustainability Commission on June 11 that the draft Darby Creek Resilience, Conservation and Management Plan (RCMP) is organized in three parts — watershed data, recommended goals and strategies, and a municipal tear sheet for each jurisdiction. "Part 1 goes over data that pertains to all of the watershed," Rahman said, adding that the team broke the watershed into upper, middle and lower reaches for analysis.

Rahman said the plan includes an ordinance-review rubric and municipal tear sheets that map municipal and watershed boundaries, flood zones and parcels recommended for conservation or restoration. "We have broken it up into the upper, middle and lower watershed based on characteristics," she said, noting that updated maps and responses to county comments are being incorporated and the final draft is anticipated mid‑July.

The plan flags parcels with opportunity for protection, recommends riparian buffers and park restoration and suggests a regional advisory council to provide oversight of stormwater plans and to help municipalities learn from one another. Rahman said the team used objective screening criteria — for example, parcels of 10 acres or more, impervious-cover thresholds and commercial redevelopment potential — and then performs manual checks to exclude infrastructure such as railroad rights-of-way.

Commissioners pushed on how recommendations would translate into local action. Rahman described how the rubric flags green (meets standard), yellow (needs updating) and red (needs substantial revision) language in municipal codes and advised tailored follow-up with municipalities, including guidance if a town wanted to pursue a ballot measure to fund land protection. "We wanted to make sure municipalities weren't overwhelmed," she said, adding that the plan aims to help communities prioritize the most important strategies.

The presentation noted funders (Delaware County, DCVA, Pennsylvania DCNR, William Penn Foundation, and the Foundation for Delaware County) and said some case-study examples are from outside the region where local examples were unavailable. Rahman invited commission feedback on goal ordering and on maps that the team is revising to avoid overloading small-format pages with too much detail.

The commission did not take a formal vote on the plan; Rahman said she will circulate the updated draft for final review once county comments and additional map revisions are complete.