Wildcat Creek emerging from dark history
Wildcat Guardians, stormwater district speak during Sustainability Week at IUK
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The Wildcat Creek has a dark history in Kokomo. Industries and individuals used it as a dumping ground for more than a century. People in the area grew up with the story that the creek isn’t safe for use.
But that is a myth. The creek may still be contaminated in some areas, but it is definitely usable and definitely beautiful. Speakers from the Wildcat Guardians and the Howard County Stormwater District spoke to students and faculty at Indiana University Kokomo as part of the college’s Sustainability Week on April 10.
They pointed out the good things about the Wildcat, the problems it faces, and how citizens can do their part to keep the waterway clean.
Wildcat Guardians co-founder Garry Hill spoke to those in attendance and provided a slide show of images taken from the Wildcat Creek. He recounted the many examples of wildlife that can be found along Howard County’s stretch of the waterway, including deer, blue herons, snakes, freshwater mussels, and even bald eagles.
“The Wildcat Creek is just an absolutely beautiful natural stream,” said Hill. “There's all kinds of beautiful views to see out there. The DNR (Indiana Department of Natural Resources) even included Wildcat Creek in its natural and scenic river system, one of only four streams in Indiana.”
Hill explained that the Wildcat Guardians participate in the DNR’s Adopt A River program and have taken responsibility for the Wildcat in this area. Through their work, trash and illegal dumping in the creek have greatly reduced over the past 20 years. They even remove log jams to ensure the creek flows clearly and properly.
“We've been doing this for many years,” said Hill. “We've worked so hard at it through all these years that it's hard for us to have clean-ups where we get much trash. But whenever we get a big clean-up, the City of Kokomo and Howard County come out to get the trash and haul it away for us.”
Hill said that the Guardians also monitor water quality along its stretch of the Wildcat. Their test results are passed along to the DNR. In addition to testing the chemical make-up of the water, they also survey the health and population density of macro-invertebrates which live in the creek bed. The results of those tests demonstrate the commitment shown by the Wildcat Guardians.
“It just basically says the Wildcat Creek is one of the cleanest streams in all of Indiana,” said Hill. “That’s why do we do all this. Wildcat Creek is one of the most beautiful streams in all of Indiana. We love it. And we love to see people getting out there. We try to encourage people to get out there because of the natural beauty and peacefulness that's there.
“And even in times when it's not quite so peaceful, when you get a bunch of buddies together and have a good time, it's just a great place to go. It’s a great place to get the family out there, your kids and grandkids.”
The Wildcat Guardians meet monthly, and their next creek clean-up is April 22 from 9 a.m. until noon. For additional information about the Wildcat Guardians and to join the organization, visit wildcatguardians.org.
Megan Moss, a field officer with the Howard County Stormwater District, spoke about the Wildcat Creek in different terms. While Hill and the Wildcat Guardians monitor the quality and condition of the waterway, Moss and her office take things a step further, concentrating on preventing contaminants from reaching the Wildcat.
“I used to think everything was just like a toxic waste pit in the Wildcat,” said Moss. “I was very wrong about that. It has excellent biology. So, I'm trying to highlight that and get more people involved with keeping track of the creek’s condition with the bio blitz project.”
Moss explained that she has put together monitoring kits for students to survey the biology of the creek. There are binoculars, insect nets, containers for examining and photographing macro-invertebrates, and other equipment to document the condition of the wildlife present in the creek. She will lead students throughout the year in these surveys.
But the presence and health of the indigenous wildlife doesn’t directly correlate with the safety of the waterway when it comes to humans. The Wildcat Creek, particularly where it winds through Kokomo, is still very contaminated.
“The section of the Wildcat going through the city of Kokomo is not safe for full body contact,” said Moss. “That does not mean that you can't go wade in it or fish or look for cool bugs or things like that. It just means that you don't want to put your orifices under the water because that opens you to getting a bacterial infection.
“The other sections of the creek, especially east upstream of Kokomo, they're pretty clean, and it's safe to eat the fish out of there once a month or so.”
The reason Moss cautioned that the fish only be eaten once a month is due to the presence of mercury. The toxic metal is present in many of the fish in the Wildcat, and in large amounts, it can harm humans. Fish living in the Kokomo stretch of the creek are contaminated with PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls. No fish should be eaten from this area.
“What happens when you ingest those chemicals is your body does not get rid of them,” said Moss. “It stays there. Now with mercury, your body can shed that a little bit every month. So that's why it's safe to eat the fish upstream. But it's not so safe with the PCBs, because you will not get rid of PCBs. They will just continue to accumulate in your body, and it can cause all kinds of issues.”
A more pressing issue facing the quality of the Wildcat Creek involves human bodily waste. Despite the fact that technology has existed for decades that can prevent human waste from reaching waterways, a large number of homes in Howard County still discharge their toilets and sinks directly into the Wildcat.
One student asked about this, and Moss explained that it isn’t a myth. There are many homes discharging directly into the creek and many more with failing septic systems that risk water quality in this area.
“There's a lot of those that are still discharging,” said Moss.
Last year, the stormwater district had access to the State Revolving Loan Fund. That money could have been used to offset the cost for individual homeowners to make connections to existing wastewater treatment systems or to otherwise correct the discharging problem. In one Howard County community, the residents rejected the opportunity.
“They didn't want to do that,” said Moss. “With the State Revolving Loan Fund and with grants, it would have been cheaper for them to have sewer connections. They didn’t want to do that. So now I have to find those individual homes, diagnose them, and order disconnections. And they'll have to replace their septic system or they'll have to move because they don't have enough room to put in another septic, basically.
“I'm not looking forward to doing that, but it's just going to be better in the long run for those people and the water, especially.”
For those wanting to make a difference in water quality, there are ways to improve the Wildcat Creek without ever getting near it. It starts with how to properly dispose of waste chemicals and debris at home.
In Kokomo, there is an extensive stormwater sewer system that is mostly disconnected from the sanitary sewers. Water running off streets, driveways, and roofs flows to nearby inlets that eventually direct the water into the creeks.
“You can do things like washing your car on your lawn,” said Moss. “That soap and water soaks into the ground, and the extra phosphorus is absorbed by the plants. Do that instead of washing on the street or driveway and having the soap go down the drain and into the creek, where it causes algae blooms, and then oxygen deficits, and stuff dies.
“If you're going to clean off your driveway, instead of hosing it down, get a broom and sweep it off into your yard so that the sediment isn't going out into the street and getting washed down into the storm drain into the creek.