Jessica Cheval. Mindy Cooper EMPACTS. Watershed Protection. Introduction

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1 Jessica Cheval Mindy Cooper EMPACTS Watershed Protection Introduction Conserving and protecting water fronts is an important aspect to maintaining water quality all over the world. Not only do the conditions of our water affect us as humans, but it also has a large effect on the marine life that inhabits it. Dead Zones, a common name for hypoxia, are a condition which occurs in areas of water where the oxygen levels are reduced. Scientists have discovered that this can happen naturally, but the most common reason is nutrient pollution primarily caused and created by humans. Excess nutrient runoff by point-source and nonpoint-source pollution are being directed into lakes, streams, rivers and oceans. This is causing an overgrowth of algae which then sinks and begins to decompose underwater, consuming oxygen and depleting the supply available to healthy marine life. Although we cannot stop this process from happening everywhere, the impact that we as humans have on our water quality gives us the opportunity to protect or destroy. (Watershed Planning) Currently in northwest Arkansas there are many organizations and groups who have come together to protect our lakes, rivers, streams, estuaries, and other water fronts. Our group had the opportunity to work and learn with one of these local water shed protection groups, The Illinois River Watershed Partnership (IRWP.) From this opportunity we have learned about the current conditions of our states many water fronts, ways to protect those water fronts and projects such as rain gardens and rain barrels that anyone can make to help protect local watersheds. Methods Several different methods are being used around our area to create watershed protection for our beautiful state of Arkansas. One of the current methods is Green Infrastructure. Instead of using single pipes to dispose of rainwater, green infrastructure uses vegetation and soil to manage rainwater where it falls. Another method for watershed protection that is being used today is the installation of a rain garden. In a home environment, installing a rain barrel is also a positive way to protect our watersheds. This method is an simple as capturing the runoff water from your rooftop to reuse later to water your garden, plants and parts of your lawn. (Sustainability and Practices) For our EMPACTS project, we spent several hours doing volunteer work with the Illinois River Watershed Partnership at Lake Springdale. Areas such as Lake Springdale are public places and are very prone to pollution from the public. There are different types of pollutions, such as point source which is water pollution coming from a single point, like a sewage-outflow pipe. There is also nonpoint source pollution that is defined as source pollution that generally results from land runoff, precipitation, atmospheric deposition, drainage, seepage or hydrologic modification.

2 During our time at Lake Springdale we helped pick up debris and trash that was alongside the river banks. Plastic bags, bottles, wrappers, and cans were among the most common items that were removed from the water. We also found items as big as car tires and a child s stroller during the clean up of the lake, river and banks of the river. Over 30 large trash bags were filled with debris from us and other volunteers. As we worked our way around the lake, we noticed the absence of conservation efforts such as rain gardens which would be very beneficial to the landscape around that area. After the cleanup, I had the opportunity to speak with one of the IRWP members about possibly installing one or more rain gardens at some point in the near future. Rain Gardens Rain gardens are landscaped depressions that capture and slowly infiltrate runoff from your rooftop or a paved surface. Rain gardens are simple to make and provide a large number of environmental benefits. They are also an incredibly simple way for people to help protect watersheds. At Lake Springdale, several small rain gardens could be planted alongside the walking path to help keep the water conditions cleaner while also providing a natural habitat for several species of native wildlife. (Teague, et al.) A rain garden would be incredibly simple after an initial plan was in place. Finding locations involve several planning steps. A rain garden needs to be placed in adequate sunlight and in a location where water does not already pool because that is a sign of poor infiltration. Ideally a perfect spot would also include a natural slope. A simple percolation test is also needed to make sure the soil is sustainable for a rain garden. To perform this test just dig a hole about a foot deep and make sure the soil is properly saturated. To ensure proper saturation you might have to fill the hole a few times with water. After ensuring proper saturation fill the hole once again with water to time the percolation through the soil. The ideal percolation time for a rain garden is about eight hours. After having someone like ARKUPS mark all sewage and utility lines to protect the construction and the garden itself you can begin to construct the garden. (Teague, et al.) The great thing about rain gardens, which also aid in their usefulness at places such as Lake Springdale, is that they can be almost any shape and size as long as a few points are considered to make sure the garden is as ideal as possible. A primary guideline would be to ensure that the size of the garden is between 10 % and 30% larger than the area where the runoff will be coming from. After finding a shape that fits the landscape and is appealing to the public the work is nearly complete. The next step would be to add certain soils to help in percolation, but this step can be avoided if a proper site with adequate percolation is able to be found. After all the hard work is done the only step left would be to decide what plants to have in the rain garden. The most beneficial would be to have native plants to ensure that they will be able to thrive in the area through the different climates. Also choosing native plants, especially in an area such as Lake Springdale will make environmentally harmful pesticides and fertilizers not needed. Some native perennials and grasses that we think would work great in rain gardens around Lake Springdale are big bluestem (andropogon geradii), yellow wild indigo (baptisia sphaerocarpa) and blue flag (iris virginica.) The ease of rain gardens is what makes them a great way for people to help protect their local watersheds. (Teague, et al.)

3 Our Project After the cleanup at Lake Springdale, we decided that although a rain garden would be the most beneficial project, our lack of time and resources did not provide us with the opportunity to actually build one. After deciding this we went ahead and decided to do what we felt would be the next best option for our project, which was to build a rain barrel. To do this we needed a 55 gallon barrel, plastic is better but metal would have worked as well. We also needed a spigot and a way to screw it into the side of the barrel. The process was very simple. First taking the empty 55 gallon drum, we removed the lid. This way we could wash out any unwanted materials that may mix with the rain water and cause harm to the plants we were using the water for. Also, the removal of the barrel s lid made it accessible to attached the back part of the spigot. Once the lid was removed and the barrel was clean, it was time to break out the power tools. We used a battery powered hand drill to drill a hole on the side, towards the bottom of the barrel. This hole was used to install the spigot that would drain the water out of the barrel and into a bucket or watering pot. To attach the spigot we simply screwed the male hose thread through the hole, and then used the female pipe on the inside of the barrel to tighten the spigot to the barrel and this also keeps water from leaking out of the barrel when the spigot it turned off. At this point the barrel can be set aside. The next task is to remove the portion of the gutter that is closest to the ground. Again a power drill was used to unscrew the metal gutter from a connection that held it secure to the side of the house. When this small part of the gutter was removed, we needed to attach our new piece of gutter that would lead to our rain barrel. Because our plastic replacement was a little larger than the original gutter, we had to improvise on how to keep it secure to the house to keep it from blowing out of the barrel during a storm. We simply solved this problem with a bit of duck tape. We were now ready to place the barrel under the new gutter for the drain water to be collected. After completing the barrel we made sure it was secure and on a flat surface to keep it from being easily tipped over until it was full enough to support itself. Results After creating our rain barrel we were able to use the collected water to provide water to a garden on of our parents had at their house. As the amount of water collected increases, and the rain becomes less frequent, you could use the barrel in many different ways. Once you become conscience of the amount of water you actually use, you can begin to think more critically about when, how and the amount of water you use. A rain barrel can be used to water a lawn, provide a garden with water, top off a swimming pool when the water begins to evaporate or even to wash vehicles or the house instead of having a running hose the entire time. A huge benefit that almost no one would turn down would be that using a rain barrel can help cut down on a home s water bill, and everyone loves to save money. If we had gone with our original idea of a rain garden, the benefits in an area such as Lake Springdale would have been great. It would have provided an area for storm water runoff to go, instead of overflowing the local creeks. The rain garden would have also provided a natural location for native

4 plants, insects and animals. Rain gardens are a simple yet extremely effective project that can work in public areas such as Lake Springdale or an anyone s own backyard. The efforts of our volunteering with the Illinois Watershed Protection Partnership helped clean an area which really needed the attention. The time we spent there was extremely beneficial but this was one small area out of many in our state. If people would take just a few hours of time out of their year to help one of these protection groups clean areas such as Lake Springdale, the effect on their own water shed and water fronts would be huge and greatly help their local environment. Further Study For the future of watershed protection the most important thing is awareness. Our communities need to have the knowledge of how severe the damage can be to our natural water fronts if we do not continue to protect them. Not only will we lose a large portion of our waters natural inhabitants, but we could also lose the ability to enjoy and even visit these beautiful lakes, streams, and rivers all together. States such as Arkansas which has rivers and bodies of water that lead to a major river, the Mississippi River, which itself leads to the Gulf of Mexico, need to know about the effect their seemingly small, local water fronts has on a global scale. With the Gulf of Mexico already massively polluted from the Deep Water Horizon disaster where an oil line exploded and leaked 4.9 million barrels of oil into the ocean, this body of water needs all the help it can get. Something as small as building rain gardens which help with storm water runoff, can be built easily and in many different areas. These gardens can help keep all the environmentally harmful chemicals such as pesticides, fertilizers and other chemicals picked up from road ways, from entering creeks and rivers which themselves lead to larger bodies of water, while carrying the chemicals picked up along the way with them. Implementing these in areas with large amounts of storm water runoff could help not only environmentally locally but also lead to helping on a global scale. Conclusion Water is one of the world s most precious resources and we only have a finite amount of it available. The same water that is used to wash your car eventually leads back to another body of water which is used by someone else. While we were volunteering we cleaned up one of our local water fronts and learned about the usefulness that conservation efforts such as rain gardens have on local water sheds. Our project, which was making a rain barrel, also helped not only in showing us how one person can conserve a large amount of water for personal use, but also made us think about how much water is wasted daily. Conservation efforts are led by groups such as the Illinois River Watershed Partnership but these groups can only do so much on their own. It should not take a disaster such as the Deep Water Horizon oil spill to raise a larger awareness about effects on water shed. These events however can be a starting point to show people what they can do on a local level to help a global problem.

5 Works cited: Watershed Planning < Sustainable Practices and Science. March 16, < Illinois River Watershed Protection. Teague, Katie, Mike Daniels, John Pennington, and Mark Brown. Rain Gardens and Storm Water. University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture, n.d. Web. 25 Apr <

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