I am an intern from Wildcat Service Corporation currently working with the Bronx River Alliance Conservation Crew. So far I have learned a little bit about Japanese Knotweed, which is non-native. We have to get rid of them because they kill off the other plants as they grow preventing them from getting sun light and going through the process of photo synthesis. I also learned not to mess with Poison Ivy, which has three leaves, because it causes an itchy rash.
I have also been working with the crew on installing a rain water harvesting system; it’s used for preventing some rain water from entering the sewers. The first step was to move a rain water barrel, used for agriculture like watering the plants around the parks. We had to move it from one site to another. While installing the barrel, I got to see a cicada bug which only comes out every 10-15 years. The next day we worked with the rain water barrel again, getting the equipment we needed from Home Depot. We cut some 4×4 wood and made the platform that it sits on a bit bigger so the rain water barrel can sit on it nicely. We finished the project by tying the rain water barrel down, making sure it’s secure, and gluing the pipes that lead from the rain gutter to the barrel together to prevent them from leaking.
