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Stewardship at Old Woman Creek NERR, OH
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Mission
The overarching stewardship mission of the Old Woman Creek Reserve is to protect and enhance the Old Woman Creek estuary and influence the “careful and responsible management” of other lower Great Lakes freshwater estuaries, coastal wetlands, and their watersheds. Stewardship includes the active protection and conservation of the natural resources within Reserve boundaries. Assisting local grassroots organizations working within the watershed but outside Reserve boundaries is a critical element to estuarine stewardship since many upstream activities can have an impact, positive or negative, on the estuary. Negative impacts can be mitigated through effective land and water management practices. The management of Reserve resources is enabled by state and federal statutory authorities, and by the implementation of appropriate public use management policies within the Reserve and upstream community/watershed technical assistance.
The Reserve envisions the Old Woman Creek estuary as a healthy system whose stewardship sets an example for similar coastal habitats. The Reserve can do this by serving as a model of innovative management strategies and practices. Lessons learned from these management practices are communicated through the Old Woman Creek Reserve network of coastal resource managers. To this end, stewardship principles and priorities are integrated into the actions of the Reserve as a whole, including its research, monitoring, and education programs.
Priority Topics
Water Quality
The watershed area that drains into the Old Woman Creek estuary is 27 square miles of predominantly row crop agriculture. The fine clay soils within the Old Woman Creek watershed, when washed into the creek, stay suspended for long periods. As a result, turbid water conditions in the estuary are common, particularly after storm events. Old Woman Creek Reserve researchers have reported positive results from reduced tillage (no-till, strip till) on sediment loads in the estuary. For residential landowners, Reserve education programs focus on topics like rain barrel and rain garden construction that reduce untreated storm runoff into the stream, estuary, and Lake Erie.
Old Woman Creek Reserve is located along the shore of the central basin of Lake Erie. This basin of Lake Erie is prone to summer anoxic events that can be linked to high phosphorus loads from anthropogenic sources like fertilizers and wastewater treatment effluent (e.g., combined sewer overflows, septic tanks). Harmful algal blooms have also been more frequent in the Lake Erie basin. In conjunction with sedimentation issues, Reserve stewardship projects have highlighted nutrient and organic pollution reduction through manure management and the precise application of herbicides and fertilizers.
There are no centralized wastewater treatment systems within the Old Woman Creek watershed. All businesses and households operate with on-site septic systems. Failing systems jeopardize public health and contribute to high nutrient and bacteria loads downstream. Old Woman Creek Reserve has provided home septic system maintenance workshops for real estate professionals and has partnered with local health agencies to identify failing systems.
The transportation network that runs through and adjacent to the Reserve increases the potential for accidental releases into the stream and wetland. Two state highways and a major rail corridor bisect the Reserve; the Ohio Turnpike crosses upstream. The Reserve is working with local emergency response officials to develop a spill response plan to reduce catastrophic impacts to water quality from accidental releases.
Changes in Biological Communities
Throughout the Great Lakes, there is no ecosystem management issue more confounding than invasive species. The ballast water from lake-borne commerce is a prime pathway for the introduction of invasives into the lakes and near shore areas. Over 180 documented aquatic invasive species have entered the Great Lakes with nearly three quarters of that total coming in since the St. Lawrence Seaway opened in 1959. Invasions happen on a monthly basis. Many of the species have detrimental impacts on coastal wetland areas like the Old Woman Creek estuary.
Recent lake level reductions (1999-present) have caused a shift in estuarine vegetation. One of the species that most benefited from the drop in water levels has been the non-native strain of the common reed, Phragmites australis. The staff of the Old Woman Creek Reserve has been engaged in herbicide application of the reeds to reduce their impact on native aquatic vegetation. Reserve research questions formulated by this management effort include the impact of treatment on non-target species and the relative treatment success from variable chemical products and methods.
Old Woman Creek Reserve researchers have shown that coastal wetlands serve as refugia for native mussel species. Lake Erie, like the other lakes that make up the Laurenthian system, has seen dramatic decreases in native mussel species after the invasion of Dressenia species (Zebra and Quagga mussels).
Habitat Alteration
Development of large-scale housing subdivisions have been occurring, and additional projects are planned near the Reserve. The influx of new neighbors creates challenges for the Reserve, such as managing property boundaries (e.g., trash dumping). Other resource issues are created by the legitimate need to allow people access to the estuary and its resources without degrading those resources. To successfully protect the resources of the Reserve, this “balancing act” must be achieved.
Although not growing as fast as areas adjacent to the Reserve, “exurban” development in the watershed will also affect estuarine resources. Old Woman Creek Reserve partners with local conservation organizations in planning for and mitigating the impacts of development.
Last Updated on: Wednesday, October 28, 2009
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