Input sought on watershed plan

The watershed covers more than 51,000 acres.

By ALISON KEMP

VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER

YOUNGSTOWN — A plan that will be used to improve Mill Creek and the surrounding areas needs help.

Mill Creek MetroParks is looking for comments about the plan, and you can be involved.

The Watershed Action Plan for Mill Creek Watershed, created by Mill Creek MetroParks and the Alliance for Watershed Action and Riparian Easements, is available for review at five branches of the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County, and at Main Library until Friday.

The watershed is in Columbiana and Mahoning counties, covering 51,070 acres. Mill Creek begins in Fairfield in Columbiana County and runs north through Columbiana, Beaver, Boardman and Youngstown before joining the Mahoning River. Portions of Green, Canfield and Austintown are also included in the watershed.

This plan addresses the sources and causes of worsening water quality and provides suggestions for improving the water and all lives within the watershed, which is land that water flows through on its way to another body of water.

“The plan gives a photograph of the current status of the watershed,” explained Justin Rogers, landscape architect for Mill Creek MetroParks and chairman of AWARE.

The plan needs public comments and then will await endorsement from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources and the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency.

Watching for problems

When plans are reviewed, OEPA and ODNR are watching for problems with the plan, such as unrealistic goals, said Mark Bergman, from OEPA’s surface water division.

“We make sure the plan makes sense,” Bergman said.

Rogers is hopeful that comments from the public will include recommendations for projects, and make note of problems that residents are experiencing.

Comments like these would ensure that the plan includes steps for taking action to address issues that people in the watershed are facing.

A few comments have been received, said Erin McCracken, environmental planner at Mill Creek MetroParks, but she would like more.

The grant that was used to complete this plan is offered by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources for organizations to “make an ecological effort to help the watershed,” said Greg Nageotte, from ODNR’s soil and water division.

By improving this region’s water resources, starting with Mill Creek, the park will stay healthy and ensure its future. By becoming involved with the plan, ecological awareness will be gained, too.

Mill Creek MetroParks and AWARE have created seven goals for improvements, which include education; preserving and protecting the land; restoring streams, plains and wetlands; reducing bacteria; reducing sedimentation and storm water; data collection; and model regulations.

To fulfill these goals, objectives and tasks were proposed in the document. Tasks that would improve the watershed include educating the public about recycling, creating watershed action plans Yellow Creek and Meander Creek, enforcement and monitoring of illegal discharge and inventorying and sampling streams.