08/01/2026
Inundated with rain. Inundated with rainfall photos.
..So, here's our video montage!
Let us know if you spot the brook trout making a brief appearance.
The first 2.5 seconds were filmed on July 27th, the same day we captured the musky video. At that point, Cooks Creek and the Delaware River were both running low and slow. Conditions were little-different on the 28th. But overnight, everything changed.
By the time we filmed the third segment, beginning around the 5-second mark, the Delaware had risen dramatically from the heavy rainfall. Cooks, however, was already beginning to recede, as you'll notice in the fourth segment. Then, in one of Cooks Creek's tributaries, it almost looks as though nothing happened at all.
This sequence beautifully illustrates just a few parts of the water cycle in action.
Borrowing from our friends at the Northampton County Conservation District, we'd like to highlight two important terms: "infiltration" and "headwaters."
"Infiltration is the process of water soaking into the ground instead of running across the surface. Healthy soils, forests, rain gardens, and natural landscapes help increase infiltration, which can reduce flooding, recharge groundwater supplies, and improve water quality. The more water that infiltrates into the ground, the less stormwater runoff enters local streams during rain events."
"Headwaters are the small streams, springs, and wetlands where a river begins. Although they may seem small, headwaters play a big role in the health of downstream waterways by filtering pollutants, reducing flooding, and providing habitat for wildlife. Think of headwaters as the starting point of a river's journey; what happens there can affect water quality for miles downstream!"
This ties directly into several of our recent posts about responsible lawn care and the importance of protecting tributaries.
The several inches of rain that fell Tuesday night had effects throughout the watershed. Here in the Cooks Creek watershed, much of that water infiltrated into healthy soils and forests, while the remainder made its way through tributaries into Cooks Creek and eventually the Delaware River. From there, it will continue its journey to the Atlantic Ocean, cycling all the while through evaporation, transpiration, groundwater, and precipitation before beginning the process once again.
Every rainstorm tells a story. Hope you enjoyed this one.
