Yellow Creek Watershed Committee
In February, the trustees appointed twenty-nine members to the Yellow Creek Watershed Committee (YCWC) to oversee the implementation of the Yellow Creek Watershed Action Plan, prepared by the Northeast Ohio Four County Regional Planning Committee (NEFCO). The plan defines goals and strategies to improve water quality and manage storm water in the watershed. The Action Plan outlined three operative areas: 1. Education, information, and community involvement, 2. Preservation and conservation, and 3. Restoration. In March, the trustees approved an agreement with Oxbow River & Stream Restoration Inc., in which Oxbow would apply for a grant to fund a stream bank restoration project along Bath Creek in the nature pre serve. The Ohio EPA recommended the Oxbow application to the U.S. EPA in September.
In April, in conjunction with Earth Day, the committee organized and helped local students plant willows and white oaks to fight erosion along North Fork Creek. During the summer the committee cooperated with homeowners, businesses, and developers to achieve a major repair of the Crystal Lake Dam and improve drainage issues around the lake. Through the commend able efforts and cooperation of the Crystal Lake Homeowners’ Association, the project was completed during the summer.
The committee participated in Bath Community Day and the University of Akron’s Field Station Open House.
In the fall, members of the committee published two articles concerning home sewage treatment systems in response to the new regulations promulgated by the Ohio Department of Health to govern Home Sewage Treatment Systems effective January 1, 2007. Please visit the committee’s website at www.yellowcreekwatershed.org for more information.
From the Winter 2007 issue of the Bath Township Quarterly. Reprinted with permission of the Bath Township Quarterly.