Watershed planning connects stakeholders with restoration project opportunities
Courtesy of Sarah Benton
Watershed Restoration Project Manager
ATHENS — West of the town of Hillsboro lies the Anthony Run-Dodson Creek Watershed. Driving through the watershed, it is clear that the area has strong ties to agricultural production.
Anthony Run and Dodson Creek are two tributaries that feed into the East Fork Little Miami River. Managing upstream sources of nutrients, including agricultural runoff, can help improve the water quality throughout the watershed and downstream, including at important drinking water sources such as Harsha Lake, the public water supply for more than 200,000 residents in Clermont County.
Rural Action values working lands and the agricultural community. Its role is to identify projects that can help balance the need to preserve and protect water supplies while supporting the agricultural character of the watershed. To that end, Rural Action and Civil and Environmental Consulting (CEC) are working together to identify potential water quality improvement projects through the development of a Nonpoint Source Implementation Strategies Plan (NPSIS) for the Anthony Run Dodson Creek Watershed within the East Fork
Little Miami River Watershed.
The purpose of an NPSIS plan is to understand a watershedʼs history, identify sources of nonpoint pollution, and develop projects that can improve water quality. An approved plan enables access to funding to implement these projects. In June, stakeholders from local Soil and Water Conservation Districts (SWCD), Arc of Appalachia, Ohio Department of Agriculture, and the Health Department met with CEC and RA to discuss the overall status of the watershed, identify areas of concern, and brainstorm projects that could help reduce the amount of nutrients going into the streams.
The Anthony Run-Dodson Creek NPSIS will identify several Critical Areas to narrow down the sources of nonpoint pollutants and pinpoint locations where water quality improvement projects could have the greatest impact. These areas may include locations with untreated wastewater, urbanized areas, and stream habitat. Potential projects identified through the planning process may include planting riparian buffers, creating and restoring wetlands, stormwater management, dam removals, and agricultural best management practices such as cover cropping and two-stage ditches.
This project was financed in part through an Ohio Environmental Protection Agency FFY24 Gulf Hypoxia Assistance Grant from the United States Environmental Agency. Established to support the Gulf Hypoxia Action Plan, the Gulf Hypoxia Assistance Program provides federal funding to help states reduce nutrient loads that contribute to the low oxygen “dead zone” in the Gulf of Mexico. The program supports planning and watershed-based projects that reduce nonpoint-source pollutants— particularly nitrogen and phosphorus—and advance long term improvements in water quality and aquatic habitat throughout the Mississippi River Basin.
About CEC:
Civil & Environmental Consultants, Inc. is an engineering and environmental consulting firm with more than 1,500 team members and 30 offices nationwide. For more information visit www.cecinc.com.
About Rural Action:
Founded in 1991 and based in Appalachian Ohio, Rural Action is a membership-based nonprofit whose mission is to build a more just economy by developing the regionʼs assets in environmentally, socially, and economically sustainable ways. The organization works with members and partners across the region to grow local businesses and jobs, restore the environment, and connect the next generation of leaders to career pathways in sustainable agriculture, forestry, watershed restoration, and environmental education. Rural Action has a network of more than 600 members throughout Appalachian Ohio. For more information, visit www.ruralaction.org.