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Sweeping Success – Volunteers Clean Scioto Brush Creek
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Volunteers collected nearly a ton of
garbage from a 3.5 mile stretch of Scioto Brush Creek.
Nearly all of
Scioto Brush Creek’s 175,000 acre drainage area is covered with
forests and farmland, limiting the potential for water quality
impairment in the Scioto Brush Creek Watershed. Still, any
observer can see the effect littering and illegal dumping have
on the stream. Numerous roadways throughout the watershed are
littered with bottles, cans, and other miscellaneous garbage
that has been discarded by motorists. In several locations,
hillsides and streambanks become illegal dump sites where some
residents dispose of household garbage and large appliances.
These locations are not only eyesores, but when waste from these
sites reaches waterways, it impairs fish habitats and may be
toxic to sensitive aquatic species.
Sam and
Themla Shirey remove a load of tires from Scioto Brush
Creek. |
This
spring, twenty-four Friends of Scioto Brush Creek
volunteers took to the water to remove some of the
litter and debris from the stream. Participants canoed a
stretch of Scioto Brush Creek from the Village of Rarden
to the Community of Youngs, removing nearly a ton of
debris from the stream along the way. Sulfur Springs
United Baptist Church in Youngs provided a site where
Lawrence/Scioto Solid Waste Management District crews
could retrieve the garbage.
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Canoes for
the Scioto Brush Creek Sweep were provided by the Adams
Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) through a
boating safety education grant from the Ohio Division of
Natural Resources Division of Watercraft and a watershed
education grant through the Ohio Environmental Education
Fund. Prior to the float, participants learned canoe
safety through the “Smart Start for Paddlers” program.
The course teaches paddlers how to have a safe paddling
trip.
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| As an educational
component of the Sweep, representatives from Ohio Valley
Schools and the Scioto SWCD presented a program focusing
on Scioto Brush Creek’s water quality. Surveys of
organisms living in Scioto Brush Creek show a rich
diversity of pollution sensitive species – species that
would have difficulty surviving in polluted water.
Presenters also identified some of the pollution sources
threatening Scioto Brush Creek’s health. In addition to
litter and illegal dumping, failing septic systems,
in-stream gravel mining, and livestock in the creek are
common pollution sources affecting Scioto Brush Creek.
The Scioto Brush Creek
Sweep is a vital component of the Friends of Scioto
Brush Creek’s mission. Despite the success of the
cleanup effort, the litter and debris collected is minor
when compared to the trash scattered and dumped
throughout the watershed. The Scioto Brush Creek Sweep
helps participants become environmentally aware as they
see the causes of stream impairment and realize that
preserving Scioto Brush Creek is the responsibility of
everyone within the watershed. |
Donna
Shepherd and Noah Wickerham use a turbidity tube to test
the clarity of Scioto Brush Creek. |
Each year, the
Scioto Brush Creek Sweep will be held on the third Saturday in
May with the following Saturday reserved as a rain date.
Email
Bill.Wickerham@oh.nacdnet.net
or call 937-544-5121 for information.
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