Sugar Creek Watershed Restoration – A Community Based Approach to Ecosystem Management

A stakeholder watershed alliance of farmers, university and agencies was formed in response to the Ohio EPA’s selection of the Sugar Creek as a target for planning and restoration because it was the second most impaired watershed in Ohio.  Farmers, other land owners, municipalities and industry within the watershed, faced with costly corrective measures to meet EPA regulatory water quality standards, proactively took the opportunity to improve their environmental quality and resource base while creating a model system for community wide response to a major environmental issue. Our research objectives emphasized:

1.   Community based organizations that lead to effective water quality improvement;

2.   Models of effective conservation improvement that can be replicated in other Ohio watersheds;

3.   Methodology to benchmark water and habitat quality;

4.   Graduate and high school training in watershed ecology through an NSF graduate-k12 training grant;

5.   Innovative community-based nutrient trading programs (a collaboration with Alpine Cheese)

The Sugar Creek Watershed was selected for intensive study and education projects because it was ranked as the second most impaired watershed in Ohio, with impairments related to sedimentation, nutrient enrichment, bacterial contamination, and loss of riparian habitat. The project is resulting in measurable improvements in water quality.

Contact Richard Moore, moore.11@osu.edu  or Lois Grant, grant.47@osu.edu  for more information.