This series of illustrated maps was launched in 2018 with a single display, funded by the Lehigh Valley Greenways Conservation Landscape, for the Monocacy Creek watershed. George Yasko of the Monocacy Creek Watershed Association worked with Rebecca Hayden of the WCLV using Lehigh University's computers to develop the base mapping—topographic contours, waterways, roads, and parks—while other Monocacy group members selected sites of interest and wrote descriptions of the special features unique to their watershed.

Keri Maxfield designed the maps and Tom Maxfield illustrated the watershed wildlife and created beautiful line drawings of historical and landmark features. The resulting multi-panel display, that includes a geological map and information on flooding, hangs in the lobby of Illick's Mill in Bethlehem, where the Watershed Coalition of the Lehigh Valley holds its monthly Board meetings. Over the next few years, as each of the region's watershed associations saw this display, an interest grew in creating a unique, illustrated map for each of the watershed groups that make up the WCLV's board. And from that interest this project grew. Funded by a second (and then third!) Lehigh Valley Greenway's grant, and from a grant from the Pocono Forest and Waters Conservation Landscape, 10 additional maps were developed. These maps are truly a collaborative effort. Every watershed association represented here put countless hours into developing text and locating sites of interest as well as facts about what makes each watershed special.
Each of these maps has its own community group, and each group welcomes volunteers who would like to become involved. Please reach out and connect with your local watershed association—they will be glad to have your help.

Special thanks are due to Trudy Hayden, who through a global pandemic edited every one of these maps countless times, in the spirit of a master copy editor. Additional thanks go to Tora Johnson of the University of Maine who brought heavy armaments to bear in the many battles that were fought with ArcGIS, the mapping software used for the base mapping. Without these two women, this project would have never come to fruition.