We want to hear from you!

A watershed action plan is a comprehensive plan for protecting and improving the watershed. A watershed action plan includes an inventory of the watershed resources and identifies and evaluates problems within the watershed. The plan then details goals to protect the high quality resources and to address identified problem areas. Your input is critical to help the Friends of the Lower Olentangy Watershed (FLOW) develop a plan to protect and improve the water quality and habitat, including managing stormwater running to the Olentangy River, prioritizing the section of the river and its tributaries south of the Delaware Dam. Rainwater, as surface runoff, often reaches streams after traveling across acres of soiled pavement and entering storm drains and catch basins. Such conditions lead to polluted stormwater, flooded basements and basins, and loss of natural habitat. Local residents have valuable knowledge of locales prone to flooding and those significant for enhancing greenspace.

Public input will help create a plan for this watershed, as part of the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency’s nonpoint source pollution control program. Nonpoint sources are areas where water flows across the ground surface into streams and storm drains, bringing with it pollution from parking lots, roadways, and areas treated with fertilizer and herbicides. Having such plans makes communities and organizations eligible for state and federal funding to implement projects to improve water quality, reduce flooding and conserve greenspace. In an effort to gather public input, this survey is intended to obtain feedback on potential locations for restoration and protection opportunities to develop into fundable projects to be included in the plan.

We all want our Olentangy River and it’s tributaries to be healthy. You can help! Take the survey!