Current Topics of Interest
This page will be updated periodically with articles from outside sources and updates on Salt Creek issues. (All links are colored orange.)
You will need to copy and paste some of the links into your address bar.
Posted April 13, 2008
At our April meeting, Cecily Smith from Prairie Rivers Network gave a presentation on pharmaceuticals in our waterways. Pharmaceuticals enter our waterways through the wastewater system. Check out this USGS website for more information: Are Pharmaceuticals in Your Watershed?
Posted Oct. 8, 2007
Amy Bodwell was one of the founding directors of the Salt Creek Watershed Network. She is retiring from the board of directors and moving out of the area. Amy will truly be missed by SCWN. I asked her to write a farewell for our members, and her dedication and love of the Salt Creek shines through her words. She forgot to mention her years as editor of 'The Confluence, our now occasional newsletter.
In 1999 I wasn't really looking to get involved with watersheds but then I got talking to Jeff Swano, a neighbor and friend in our village of Brookfield. He introduced me to Nick Nikola and before I knew it, I was attending SCWN meetings. There was a lot of excitement for SCWN as it was just getting started and we were beginning the process of getting a grant to put together a watershed plan. We were able to secure funding, a $15,000 grant, from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency. We began by having watershed wide meetings, often held in the community house in Elmhurst. I remember meetings with 20 people in the room brainstorming what the key issues were and what we wanted to focus on. There was a lot of energy and enthusiasm. We had great support from the communities and many watershed professionals. After many months, long meetings, a lot of writing and editing, we finally published Restoring Balance. About the same time, Elk Grove announced it would begin doing streambank stabilization along the creek. This was in great part due to Nick's ongoing efforts to highlight the watershed in Elk Grove. We also began the long and tedious process of securing our not for profit status, creating a logo, writing more grants and getting a website up and running. I felt like with everything going on, I had two jobs- one at the zoo and one at SCWN.
One of my most memorable experiences was getting to spend time on the creek. One of our former board members, Cliff Counsell, got a trip together and we went from Bemis Woods down to the Des Plaines River. It's really quite a remarkable stretch of river and despite portages around dams and fallen trees, I loved it. You get an entirely different perspective from the water- the good, forested areas with riffles in the creek and the ugly, stormdrain run off from the roads. Another time, during a visit to Nick's, we explored some of the northern end of the creek below Busse Dam. I was also doing the ECOWATCH Riverwatch program and had a site I monitored for a number of years. These experiences really helped me connect to the creek differently then had I only observed it.
Being a part of SCWN was a special experience for me. I learned a huge amount about water, watersheds, stormdrains, TMDLs, working in and with communities and about the creek. I know that no matter where my path leads me that I will have a deeper respect for watersheds and their relevance in the environment. In fact, I am now working for Biodiversity Project, an organization in Madison WI, on a project in the Gulf of Maine, a body of water that touches three states (Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts and two provinces (Nova Scotia and New Brunswick). The Gulf of Maine's watershed is 69,000 sq mi., a bit larger than Salt Creeks 150 sq miles but watersheds function much the same no matter where they are. I am working on an environmental communications plan that will reach coastal residents as well as targeted watershed residents. My experiences with SCWN will enable me to better understand the issues and solutions ahead.
Amy Bodwell, Gulf of Maine Program Coordinator Biodiversity Project
Posted Oct 8, 2007
Check out this sustainable landscape website.
The Web page describes the principles of innovative and responsible treatment of rain water in and around the home garden. The treatments described and featured include a small green roof, rain barrels, porous pavement, rain gardens, gravel grass, a cistern, and a bioswale.
The Web page takes the reader on a virtual tour around the house, explains the rationales of the applied sustainable practices and explores the opportunities that present themselves to combine the beautiful and the useful. Other information featured is on the clay soils of the site and their infiltration capacity, how much the runoff quantity was reduced, and an observation on the wildlife that uses the garden.
There's a permanent link to this web page on our 'What YOU can do' web page.
Our fishing expert and Salt Creek friend Andrew Ragas updated his webpage.
Check it out at Fishing Headquarters There's a permanent link to this web page on our 'Recreation' web page.
Posted Oct. 8, 2007
Many small streams and wetlands don’t show up on topographical maps, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t ecologically important.
To remind decision makers of the benefits these small streams and wetlands provide to larger river systems, American Rivers and the Sierra Club recently re-released Where Rivers Are Born: The Scientific Imperative for Defending Small Streams and Wetlands to highlight the values of headwater streams for various human and ecological functions, including water quality and water supply.
http://www.americanrivers.org/site/PageServer?pagename=AMR_whereriversareborn
http://www.americanrivers.org/site/PageServer?pagename=AMR_RippleEffect2#j2
Posted Jan. 5, 2007
About 10 years ago Keith Olson heard that an organization was forming to bring people together for the benefit of the Salt Creek. He was managing the prairie restoration along the Prairie Path in Elmhurst just east of the Salt Creek. Working on behalf of the Salt Creek was a natural extension of his work on the prairie and he became one of the founding Directors of the Salt Creek Watershed Network.
This past fall he was awarded the ‘Excellence in Conservation Award 2006’ from Chicago Wilderness.
Read more in the current issue of the 'Confluence' on our Newsletter and Publications page.
Posted Oct. 14, 2006
Rolling Waters of Riffles
The Forest Preserve District of DuPage County publishes 'The DuPage Conservationist' The summer issue has a nice article called 'Rolling Waters of Riffles' by Christopher Gutmann, Naturalist at Fullersburg Woods Nature Education Center. Click on 'page 4' to download the pdf version of the article.
IEPA 2006 303d list
The Illinois EPA recently released the 2006 303d list. This is the list of impaired waters in the state to fulfull Section 303d of the Clean Water Act.
You can use the TMDL link in the 'Related Links' column on the right. On the IEPA webpage that comes up, click on '303d list'. The ten digit HUC for the Salt Creek and tributaries is 0712000406. OR use the links below:
The Illinois Integrated Water Quality Report and Section 303(d) List - 2006 (PDF, 2.44MB) is the 200 page report. For a brief narrative of the Surface Water Standards, look at pages 26-29. Then go to the table of contents to find other topics that interest you.
The actual 303d list is Appendix A. Illinois' 2006 303(d) List (Catagory 5 Impaired Waters) (PDF, 4.15MB) Look at pages 1-2 for Specific Assessment information for streams, and then look for 10-Digit HUC 0712000406 on pages 29-31 for Salt Creek, Addison Creek, and Spring Brook.
Then look at B-1. Stream Assessments (PDF, 2.98MB) and look for 10-Digit HUC 0712000406 on pages 3 (Addison Cr), 70 (Salt Cr), and 86 (Spring Brook) for Salt Creek info.