FLOW volunteers annually monitor the stream water quality of selected Olentangy River tributaries. Volunteer teams measure physical, chemical and biological attributes, including the presence of various “macroinvertebrates “, (insects and other small animals that indicate the level of water pollution). Training sessions are held in May, with testing starting June 15 through September. Please contact FLOW if you’re interested in joining us!
How to plant a container tree
How to plant a bare root tree seedling (step by step print instructions) | (video)
Reducing Stormwater Runoff for a Healthier Watershed
This is a section of a five-part series produced by FLOW to educate residents about backyard conservation. Seemingly inconspicuous, stormwater runoff is one of the biggest threats facing waterways. Accounting for an estimated 70% of all water pollution, stormwater...
Composting for a Healthier Watershed
This is a section of a five-part series produced by FLOW to educate residents about backyard conservation. The farm-to-table food stream often ends up flowing to a landfill. 40% of food in the United States is never eaten. In 2010, $161 billion worth of food was...
Lawn Care for a Healthier Watershed
This is a section of a five-part series produced by FLOW to educate residents about backyard conservation. Lawn is pervasive in the American landscape. There are an estimated 40 million acres of lawns across the country, making “lawn” the largest irrigated crop in...
Plant some late blooming “secret flowers”
Join SER (Society for Ecological Restoration) to search for secret flowers! Late-blooming flowering plants like asters, goldenrods, bonesets, and white snakeroot are hiding in your yard and other places around the city. They look like "weeds" all summer, but in the...
Neonics: What They Are and Why You Should Avoid Them
Neonicotiniods, also referred to as neonics, were developed in the 1980s and soon became the most used insecticide in the world. Their popularity spread in part because manufacturers advertised them as “safer” insecticides. By some definitions, this is true. Neonics...
Garlic Mustard: A Destructive Yet Delectable Invasive
What is it? You probably know garlic mustard even if you don’t know you know it. Odds are, it has invaded forest areas near you as it has much of the midwest. Garlic mustard, Jack-In-the-Bush, or Alliaria petiolata is a non-native understory invasive plant in North...
Fungi of the Olentangy
To start, this article will mostly be about fungi that grow along the Olentangy rather than the fungi that grow in it. There are fungi that play important roles in decomposing submerged leaf litter and wood, and some that are major parasites of aquatic animals, but...
The Lower Olentangy Greenspace Plan is now available
The Olentangy Watershed is currently home to 283,000 people. The Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission (MORPC) expects this number to nearly double to 500,000 by 2050. With more people comes more development and more impervious surface. Maintaining a healthy watershed...
FLOW’s Stance on Issue 1
During the October Board meeting of The Friends of the Olentangy Watershed, the Board members discussed our support of the City of Columbus Community Choice Aggregation placed on the November ballot as Issue 1. Aggregation initiatives like this have passed in more...
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