Darby Creek Advocate Volume 9, Issue 3  November 2001

Over the past decade, significant progress has been made in identifying and eliminating pollution sources in the Darby watershed. For example, the Ohio EPA has gradually mandated improvements in a number of treated sewage discharges. Yet signs of continuing deterioration persist. Why? The answer is increased storm water—the invisible killer of rivers. Accumulation of storm water—either from a drained farm field, a mowed lawn, or a new parking lot—acts much as high blood pressure in the human body: it slowly but surely damages the ecological functions of the river system. In this issue we begin a series detailing the effects of unmanaged storm water. The figures below show typical impacts. The top figure shows a stream in its pristine condition, with diverse habitat niches and diverse life. The bottom figure shows the same stream after years of increased runoff. The “blown out” stream channel provides limited aquatic habitat due to erosion.