A task force of the Central Ohio Regional Forum (CORF), a broad-based regional planning group that seeks to foster cooperation on issues affecting multiple jurisdictions, recently completed the first phase of a study of the impacts of development on the Big Darby watershed.

In this phase the group partnered with an engineering firm and a watershed protection think-tank to develop stormwater management "principles" that could reduce runoff from new developments. These principles deal with strategies for construction of residential streets and parking lots, lot development, and conservation of natural areas.

These principles are meant to serve as possible regulations that could be adopted by various jurisdictions in the Darby watershed.

It should be emphasized that the task force report is not a land use plan, and has no implementation authority. Moreover, the task force had only modest participation by watershed stakeholders—unfortunately a common theme in many efforts at regional planning.

Darby Creek Advisory Council to Reform?

As part of its Scenic River Program, the state’s Division of Natural Areas and Preserves is required to consult with a citizen’s advisory council representing local officials, landowners, and conservation organizations in each scenic watershed. Recently, the Darby Creek Advisory Council has become inactive.

Advisory councils represent important connections between state government and local communities trying to protect their natural heritage. Often residents and other stakeholders are the first to recognize problems in their streams. DCA has requested that the Darby Council be reformed and that it include a DCA trustee. The new Darby Scenic River Coordinator, Tim Peterkoski, has stated that this will occur this year.

Clubshell found in Big Darby

The clubshell mussel is a federal endangered species native to the Big Darby system. Once found in both Big and Little Darby, this rare animal has been restricted to Little Darby Creek for at least the last four decades.

Or so it was thought. Last November a single living clubshell was found in Big Darby below Plain City. The individual was quite old and it is uncertain whether it is a "relict" specimen—a nonreproducing survivor—or if there is a viable population still living in the Big Darby mainstem. The finding gives hope that the latter may be the case.

Survey shows continued declines in mussel populations in Big Darby.

When several local newspapers recently printed stories touting the health of Big Darby’s freshwater mussels, they were relying on a press release from the Ohio Division of Natural Areas and Preserves. Unfortunately, the press release was based on an inaccurate reading of a recent mussel survey of the lower Big Darby Creek in Pickaway County, which had in reality found evidence of a long-term decline in both diversity and abundance in this important category of aquatic animal.

The survey was conducted by DCA trustee John Tetzloff with funding from the Ohio Division of Wildlife’s Wildlife Diversity and Endangered Species Program, a program funded with money donated from Ohio’s tax check-off program and special license plate sales.

The study documented living and freshly dead mussels in Big Darby from its confluence with the Scioto River to river-mile 20 in northern Pickaway County. It compared findings with previous surveys by O.S.U. researchers in the 1960’s and the 1980’s-1990’s. These comparisons showed dramatic declines, especially in Darby’s first ten miles.

The report attributed declines to increased stormwater runoff, which causes instream erosion, siltation, and, most importantly, substrate instability. Mussels need stable sand and gravel to survive and reproduce.

Runoff has been increasing in the Darby watershed for decades, mostly due to more efficient agricultural drainage and increased residential development.

DCA gets assist from OSU grad students

When Ohio State University professor Tomas M. Koontz contacted DCA last fall offering to put several of his graduate students to work for Darby the organization jumped at the offer.

As part of an environmental management class, Koontz wanted his students to get hands-on experience in watershed advocacy. With help from DCA trustee Terry Stewart, projects were designed to fit the students’ areas of interest and the needs of DCA and the Darby watershed.

In one project, students Dan Heck and Kim Hsu helped devise a survey that will help DCA poll citizen attitudes toward Darby, watershed protection, and land use. In a second project Sara Schott designed an attractive brochure for our new Corridor Fund.

Professor Koontz will be teaching this class each fall, and we hope to continue collaboration with his students next year.

DCA to sponsor study of the environmental effects of land use changes.

In another partnership with an OSU professor, DCA trustees recently voted to underwrite a study by Dr. Steven Gordon, professor of City and Regional Planning, that will look at changing land use in the watershed.

Gordon has been studying the Darby watershed for more than a decade. In the current project, he will look at land use changes over the last decade, analyze the environmental status of the creek, and model impacts from future development. DCA will use the results of the study to educate residents, the press, and local governments on the effects of future development on Darby.