Deer Creek Watershed November 2009 Newsletter

Greetings!

Over the next year, the Deer Creek Watershed Initiative will be developing a watershed plan that identifies issues, concerns, and goals to better the quality of Deer Creek and its tributaries. In addition to Missouri Botanical Garden's leadership, our partners in the planning process include Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District, East West Gateway Council of Governments, American Society of Civil Engineers, Missouri Department of Natural Resources, Missouri Department of Conservation, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Louis County, City of Brentwood, City of Clayton, City of Creve Coeur, City of Des Peres, City of Frontenac, City of Huntleigh, City of Ladue, City of Maplewood, City of Rock Hill, City of University City, and City of Webster Groves.

The most important partner in this process, however, is YOU. We need your input and ideas. If you've got a suggestion, just visit our website and fill out this easy form. We look forward to hearing from you!

Sincerely,
Rick Holton
Chairman, Deer Creek Watershed Friends

In This Issue

What Part of the Watershed Do You Live In?

In Your Backyard

Recap: Green Stormwater Infrastructure Training

What Part of the Watershed Do You Live In?
Naming our creeks

Check out our new watershed map as a downloadable graphic. We have divided the watershed into 5 different sub watershed areas. Which part of the watershed do you live in? Is there an unnamed creek near where you live? What name do you think it should have?

Your Backyard: Simple Steps to Protect the Watershed

The leaves falling around St. Louis are another reminder of the beauty of our watershed and the issues facing it (remember not to throw your bags of leaves into the creek or storm drains).

Remove Pet Waste Black Creek Volunteers

Pet waste is a major source of bacteria in the watershed. To help reduce the public health risk from disposing of pet waste in your yard, and when walking your pet, please properly dispose of pet waste by:

Burying waste in at least 6 inches of soil
Placing it in a sealed plastic bag in the trash
Flushing waste down the toilet (without the plastic bag)

For more tips on how you can keep your watershed clean and safe, visit the water quality resources on our website.

Recap: "Green Stormwater Infrastructure Training Workshop

Visit our Flickr page for more images.

This fall an internal Green Stormwater Infrastructure Training Workshop was held for all MSD Design Team staff as a result of the development of demonstration bioretention systems in partnership with Missouri Botanical Garden's Deer Creek Watershed Initiative.

The event was a collaboration between the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District, Missouri Botanical Garden, Shaw Nature Reserve, Missouri Department of Conservation, Missouri Department of Natural Resources, Ecoworks Unlimited, and SWT Design.

"Nothing is softer or more flexible than water, yet nothing can resist it."
--Lao Tzu

About the Deer Creek Watershed Initiative

Our purpose is to assess and improve the Deer Creek Watershed. Please forward this email newsletter to your friends and encourage them to get involved. The Deer Creek Watershed Initiative is a project of Missouri Botanical Garden and its partners. This project is partially funded by US EPA Region 7 through the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (subgrant number G09-NPS-13), under Section 319 of the Clean Water Act.