The
Lost Creek
It’s a hot, balmy afternoon
in August and I just got home from work. I needed to check my email, which at
times can be a process because as a Waterkeeper, you have several email
accounts. Some are set up for information, some are set up to report pollution
and others are set up for direct contact.
I opened my “report
pollution” email account first as I always do. After all, that’s my job. I received an email from a woman who lived
along Carpenter Creek. She stated that there was a large amount of trash
accumulating in her back yard, washed down from upstream. Large trees had
fallen into the creek and the trash was piled up in a logjam. My heart sank. How could this be? Innocent residents, going
about their business and they wake up to this? How did it get there? Who is
responsible, if anyone? Can you imagine? You go into your back yard and see a
nasty, smelly health hazard? Beer bottles, smelly soiled diapers, Styrofoam
cups, plastic bags, chicken bones, and much more were sprawled along the creek.
In my investigation, I spoke
with the City and County offices, trying to obtain information towards the
resolution of the problem. Both offices stated that they could not remove the
logjam because it was contained on the residents’ property. Therefore, the
residents were required to clean it up. So now we have downed trees, garbage
and 10’-15’ of property erosion and no one can help them. What’s worse, it’s not the property owners’ fault.
Coming up with the origin of
the trash was first on the agenda. Because Carpenter creek runs through the uptown of Pensacola, big box stores,
hospitals, and residential communities paint the majority of this five-mile
watershed. Of course, urban development
has everything to do with the problems. Urban development allowed in a riparian
zone destroys the natural ability for stormwater to recharge aquifers through direct
percolation. When you take away that
important watershed easement and build parking facilities, the stormwater has
no other choice then to run off into the lowest contour line, the creek. With
no percolation or filter, everything on the parking lots including floatables
and animal waste ends up directly in the creek, hence the reason why Carpenter
Creek is on the EPA’s 303d list of impaired water bodies. It eventually empties
into Bayou Texar, which is also on the list. High levels of Fecal Coliform,
Mercury and Nutrients were determined back in 2002. Significant erosion, only
exacerbated by the April 2014 flood is also a constant problem and creates the
felled trees, resulting in the logjams.
So how do we fix the problem
and give the residents along the creek some relief? Beginning with the City
Code Enforcement office, code violations have gone out to businesses and
apartment communities for harboring a significant amount of trash. These areas
are being cleaned up now. The next step is the Carpenter Creek Clean Up hosted
by Emerald Coastkeeper. As a Waterkeeper, I spent many hours walking the creek
and identifying other underlying issues, such as hardened creek stabilization,
old stormwater drains without the proper volume and velocity measures
implemented and a significant amount of trash and debris, such as rusted
shopping carts, tires, electronics, furniture, plastic, cans, bottles, tarps
and more. This clean up will be the beginning of the relief and repair of this
watershed.
The next phase will be to
remove the non-native plant species.
There are a variety of non-native plants that are choking out the native
species, such as privet, potato vines and popcorn trees. These will be removed
in phases due to the intricate nature and difficulty in their permanent
removal. These plant species provide no significant value to our ecosystem.
Education and outreach is
greatly needed for this community. We can all become mindful of our waterways
and continue to repair them so that the community can enjoy them once again as
a fun and beautiful recreational site. Did you know that folks used to dive off
of platforms and canoe and kayak down Carpenter Creek?
The most important and
exciting part of this watershed is the Carpenter Creek RESTORE project. Some
very special people in our community that have spent many years in this creek
helped put this project together. The
creek will become fully restored with greenways and noted historical artifacts
for everyone’s viewing pleasure! We have Pensacola Beach, we have Downtown
Revitalization and now we will have an uptown gem right in the middle of
Pensacola’s premier shopping district. How neat is that!
How can you help? We have a
lot of work to do! Pulling together as a community will make it a success! Our
clean up is this Saturday, December 3rd from 8AM to 3PM. We will
meet at the Publix Shopping Center on 9th Avenue. Emerald
Coastkeeper is providing gloves, bags, food and water. Let’s bring the Lost
Creek back to life!
I would like to thank the
following sponsors for their help in bringing this community effort together:
City of Pensacola (Sherri
Myers and Larry Johnson)
City of Pensacola Sanitation Department
Escambia County Sanitation
Department
ECUA
Publix Grocery Store
Ever’man’s Cooperative
Miller’s Ale House
Carmike Theater
