UC leads demonstration project to improve Ohio streams

Like many urban creeks, Cincinnati’s streams are routinely affected by routine flash floods, sewage overflows, pollution and stormwater runoff.

UC biologists Stephen Matter and Michael Booth are examining whether water quality and wildlife habitat can be improved simply by adding a touch more of Mother Nature. With a team of volunteers, they placed fallen logs and branches in select parts of the upper Cooper Creek, a stream in the Cincinnati suburb of Blue Ash that drains downstream into the larger Mill Creek and Ohio River.

The addition of fallen timber could help slow periodic floodwaters, create more standing pools for fish during droughts and reduce nutrients that could make their way downstream, researchers said.

“Cooper Creek typifies a lot of issues streams in Hamilton County face,” said Booth, an assistant professor who studies fish and aquatic ecology across the country.

“We know wood plays an important role for creating wildlife habitat. Cooper Creek is a boring place — lots of rocks but not much else,” he said. “In creeks you’d like to see a variety of habitats, fallen logs, standing pools and flowing water.”

The UC researchers presented the project in April to the Geological Society of America’s sectional conference in Cincinnati. The project is funded through the Ohio Water Resources Center through a grant from the U.S. Geological Survey.

Greater Cincinnati has an extensive network of creeks feeding its major rivers.

“These streams really are the lifeblood of the natural system,” said Matter, an associate professor of biology in UC’s College of Arts and Sciences.

“Most of our creeks are these small headwater streams. If you walk through Cincinnati, you’re going to run into one of these in every neighborhood,” Matter said. “Often they’re places we’d like to see nature.”

But some Cincinnati creeks see raw sewage overflow during storms, which makes them a potential health risk, Matter said.

In Cincinnati, most creeks help divert standing water off roads, so they can turn from a trickle to a torrent after heavy rains. Fish and other aquatic life can be swept far downstream.

“There are lots of impervious surfaces. When it rains, you see a massive increase in stream flow. This leads to major changes in sediment and habitat available for aquatic life,” Booth said.

As a result, while Ohio is home to 170 native freshwater fish, the upper section of Cooper Creek is home to just three species of fish today, Booth said.

“As we go downstream, we might add four or five more species,” he said.

That’s a startling lack of biodiversity and a sign of an unhealthy ecosystem, he said.

“But we would definitely expect to see double the number of fish species if we had better habitat and better connectivity for fish to move back up into these sections,” Booth said. “We’re looking for a cost-effective solution to deploy to improve urban streams.”

Adam Lehmann, stream conservation program manager for the Hamilton County Conservation District, is overseeing the demonstration project. He said the biggest challenge facing headwater streams in Ohio is they become bone dry between rainstorms.

“If a stream goes dry between rain events, the fish aren’t going to care how polluted the water is,” Lehmann said.

Restoring the natural hydrology of creeks can be expensive and labor-intensive, often requiring intrusive heavy equipment. Researchers are hoping to see similar benefits from less drastic efforts than bringing in backhoes.

Featured image at top: UC biologists led a demonstration project at Cooper Creek to determine if simple methods such as adding timber to a creek can help improve the ecology of Ohio's streams. Photo/Michael Booth