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<< Front page Commentary November 7, 2003
 

Plum Creek essential to Oberlin’s ecosystem

A fair number of people know that Wal-Mart is doing its best to set up a store on the corner of 58 and 20 in Pittsfield Township. But few people know where that is.

Taking 58 south means taking South Main south, past the ice cream shop Yesterday’s, past CVS and Hardens, past the Fire Department and the elderly care home it faces, past Hamilton Street, and finally to the intersection with Route 20.

Looking around, it is not much, but for now it serves as an interesting way to broaden our conception of where we live, because that area also lies within the Plum Creek watershed.

This is the area of land that sheds its water after any rain, snow, sleet or hail fell into Plum Creek.

Plum Creek is within the Black River watershed, which means that Plum Creek, after having collected all this water, then flows into many creeks and ditches, into the Black River, which has an eastern-moving currents.

Any herbicides that we or the local golf course spread on lawns thus comes directly back to us, since we draw our drinking water from the Black River further upstream.

Following Plum Creek toward its source is an interesting project. One can follow it around the back of the two large ponds of water south of South Campus and into the now-abandoned arboretum.

It is likely that these two ponds were originally built to collect and store water from Plum Creek and elsewhere in order to act as water reservoirs for the town of Oberlin, but if so, they have long since been abandoned.

The creek is quiet and helpful as a guide to the west that it can come as a sharp surprise when the trees suddenly end and one comes across acres of carefully managed golf course.

As one walks by the creek as it winds though the golf course, it is difficult not to be concerned with the run-off of chemicals from fertilizers and herbicides that inevitably flow into our water supply.

The low amount of vegetation allowed in and around the creek by the golf course means that the water velocity is not significantly slowed as it rushes through during storms and rainy seasons. If anything, the velocity increases. This leads to increased sediment run-off from the banks of the creek further downstream.

One can see the effects of this in the old arboretum if one notices exposed tree roots hanging over the water and the pile of concrete around one bend, put there on purpose to slow down the water velocity.

Of course our water supply is cleaned before it is pumped into the town, but enough sediment erosion and chemical run-off can cause serious problems downstream.

We are not a secluded microcosm of society. If we pay attention, we can see here the same problems afflicting many communities all over the continent.

What are we doing that helps retain water so that our creeks and rivers are not rushing our sediment out to Lake Erie, where it has to be dredged every year and, because of its chemical content, must be contained in storage units rather than put back on the land? I have no answer.