West Portal Creek features farmers, conservationists, scientists, and federal agencies working together to solve the complex problem of water pollution.

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By focusing on one stream, and using pioneering DNA technology to target water quality improvement projects on two farms and a nearby school, this partnership was able to reduce bacterial contamination in the Creek by 97%, above their goal of a 93% reduction.

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West Portal Creek is in a rural landscape, and could be anywhere in America. It shows how people worked together to build trust, form relationships, and work together over more than twenty years to reverse a stream’s water quality problems.

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However, a tragic soap spill killed the fish in the Creek. After dealing with the loss of fish in the restored Creek, life comes back.

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The film project was supported by the William Penn Foundation, a Philadelphia-based foundation funding collaborative restoration projects in the Delaware River Watershed, home of the largest undammed major river in the East.

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The Musconetcong River, into which West Portal Creek flows, is the largest tributary to the Delaware River, and is a National Wild and Scenic River.

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The film was developed by the Musconetcong Watershed Association, Trout Unlimited, and North Jersey Resource Conservation and Development – three of the partners that restored West Portal Creek.

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West Portal Creek is an official selection of the 2022 Wild & scenic Film Festival.

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Festivals and Press, contact: Karen Doerfer, Communications and Development Associate, karen@musconetcong.org