Mussels clean canal, new housing budget, & more

Catch up on the latest sustainability news:

Mussels clean the Manayunk Canal. Once trash-filled and green algae-covered, the Manayunk Canal is now bustling with wildlife as the water becomes increasingly inhabitable. Work to clear the canal has been going on for decades, but the introduction of a helpful mollusk has sped up the process over the past few years. Freshwater mussels bred by the Philadelphia Water Department filter approximately six to 10 gallons of water a day. The Philadelphia Citizen

New housing budget provides funding but not staffing. In the City’s FY 2027 budget, Mayor Parker expanded Philadelphia’s proactive rental inspections program, made plans for a modular home factory, and increased the budget for the Philadelphia Land Bank, which often transfers vacant lot ownership to housing developers and community gardeners. These are all part of the mayor’s Housing Opportunities Made Easy initiative, with the goal of creating more affordable housing across the city. Lawmakers have called for greater staffing to oversee these programs, however. WHYY

Pennsylvania Whole-Home Repairs becomes national. The Pennsylvania Whole-Home Repairs program is now a national pilot program with the passage of the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act. Whole-Home Repairs, written by Philadelphia-based State Senator Nikil Saval, provides financial support to update and weatherize aging homes against extreme weather and rising energy costs. ROAD to Housing aims to encourage more housing construction nationally. 6 ABC

Forecasters predict a hotter-than-average summer. Philadelphia just completed its third-hottest spring on record, and forecasters believe the summer will be warmer as well. Scientists say that overall warmer temperatures driven by climate change can lead to a greater chance of extreme highs. “What we’ve been seeing is that more, sort of, pedestrian weather events will lead to heat extremes in the recent climate, [rather] than in the past, where you really needed something special to happen in the atmosphere to get a heat extreme,” said Gabriel Vecchi, a professor in the Department of Geosciences at Princeton University. WHYY

Philadelphia public pools reopen. Public pools are reopening for the season. All pools will be functioning by the end of this month, in time for the heat of July and August. The city released an updated schedule on Monday. 

Cover photo: Public pool. Justin Dyer via UnSplash