West and Rhode Riverkeeper

On September 30, 2010 our area was soaked by the remnants of Tropical Storm Nicole. Some areas received as much as 10 inches of rain from this storm. I spent the morning video-documenting various areas in our watershed and how the rain was impacting our waterways.

Galesville Rain Garden:

[video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqdxXt2G-PE 640x385]
This project was recently completed, and seems to be functioning well. Water is captured from the street and parking lots, and is allowed to soak in rather than go straight into the river. The native plants help soak up the water, and also provide a pleasant landscape.

Triton Woods (new development on Mayo Peninsula):

[video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHlrEM6pFMw 640x385]
This sediment basin fills during large storms and muddy runoff flows under Mayo Road and then into a ditch which carries it to Cadle Creek.

In order to restore the health of our waterways, we must be able to reduce pollution from stormwater runoff. It's time to get serious about stormwater pollution. For more video of stormwater runoff, see http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=WestRhode#g/u

When I got to the office this morning, I was greeted by the site of heavy equipment in Parish Creek. The mouth of the creek is teaming with barges, pipes, and dredging rigs. This is all for the long-planned dredging of Parish Creek. The dredging will begin this weekend (March 13) and continue through the end of the month. The dredge material will be "sucked" from the bottom and pumped through a pumpline to the Idlewilde Dredge Material Placement(DMP) site.

We support this project as it will restore the Parish Creek channel to a level which will allow safe navigation for the myriad of watermen, sailors, and recreational boaters that keep their vessels in this creek. We will, however, be watching closely to ensure that the dredging does not release any sediment plumes or cause any other negative impacts to the immediate area during during this work. At least I can watch from right out of my office window!