Songs of Storm-Water Management. New Words by John and Jan Haigis to familiar tunes- Copyright 2006

For the past few years Jan and I have coordinated the annual Darby Creek/Cobbs Creek Cleanup for the Darby Creek Valley Association. This year we wrote Songs of Storm-Water Management, of which these are a few examples. For the complete booklet, please call us at (610) 583-0788 or e-mail johnghd@yahoo.com

These songs may be used in classrooms but if copied, please indicate the source, who wrote them  and say they are  "Used by Permission"

Tune: The River is Wide/Wally Wally

Oh the watershed's wide, and the waters drain

To a common point, every time it rains

Lyrics Copyright, 2006 John and Jan Haigis 1006 Main Street Darby, PA 19023

But when the rain, has no place to go

Tune: The Caissons go rolling along

The waters rise, and over flow

Runoff here, runoff there

Causing floods that bring despair

I had a house on a piece of land

Picture from Mt Zion AME

The storm water goes rushing along

With lovely views on every hand

From our lawns, from our roads

But then men came and cut down the trees

It all makes too big a load

Like a killing blight or a dread disease

The storm water goes rushing along

For it's you and me

And then I watched as the waters came

Need to learn some BMP's

But the land below was not the same

Where rain had once, soaked into the ground

To let all the rains soak in the ground

Hard parking lots, were all it found

For we all must know

Rain needs a place to go

I watched this rain, falling drop by drop

As storm water goes rushing along

Join with other rain, and it could not stop

Until it filled, every water course

Tune: Row RowRow Your Boat (2)

And the flooding came, with an awful force

Every time it rains

Junk flows in the stream

Oh the watershed's wide, and the waters drain

Paper cups and pesticide

and spills from gasoline.

To a common point, every time it rains

But when the rain, has no place to go

The waters rise, and over flow

Tune: Row RowRow Your Boat

Every time it rains

Junk flows in the stream

Don't throw trash into the drain

Keep our water clean

Tune: I've Been Working on the Railroad

Keep your water on your property

Every way you can

Retention basin or rain barrel

Water for your plants

It won't overwhelm the storm drains

Or flood the land around

Keep your water on your property

Let it soak into the ground

(Below) Map of Darbyshire, England showing why early settlers felt at home

(Above) Darby Creek Watershed (Left:)Peaceful scene along an Irish canal