Go to the scoring table
Go to the figures

Link to the Selection of Sites for Action
View the BMP Table

Background:

As a part of the development of the Watershed Management Plan, critical areas, both along the creek corridors and within the watersheds, need to be identified. Kieser & Associates staff surveyed each creek corridor and collected the following information:

• Photographs for the website Watershed Tours
• Erosion and litter hot spots
• Water clarity
• Fauna observed
• Substrate type
• Riparian cover
• Development pressures

Based on these field surveys, each creek was divided into stretches having consistent riparian quality and land use. These data, along with data collected from other sources (such as storm sewer maps and water quality monitoring), were utilized to identify critical stretches and sites (having both a high quality and a low quality). It is expected that the relative quality of each creek decreases moving from the headwaters to the mouth, as the watershed becomes larger and more urbanized. Stretches that deviated from this expected trend, both negatively and positively, were targeted for restoration projects or recommended for preservation, respectively. The attached figures illustrate these scores.

The scoring procedure is based upon the addition of scores (0-3) for habitat quality, water quality and development pressures. Ten total parameters are involved in the development of the score (for a total of 30 points).

Habitat Quality

• Substrate
• Sinuosity
• Shading
• Riparian width and type
• Erosion
• Litter

Water Quality

• Clarity
• Number of discharge points

Development Pressures

• Proximity of road, rail roads, buildings
• Flood Storage Capacity and connections to the floodplain

The total score, derived from the addition of the individual scores for these parameters, provides a snapshot-in-time (March, 2002) assessment of each stretch's condition. Desired uses for each creek, as identified by the subwatershed committees, are compared to these scores in an attempt to determine which stretches currently do or may have the potential to meet these desired uses. Those stretches having the potential to meet these uses and having a high BMP efficacy, based on number of landowners, types of suitable BMPs and BMP costs, will be targeted for restoration projects. Those areas having high scores, that are not already preserved, will be targeted for preservation.

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Scoring Table:

Stretch #	Stretch Location	Stretch Description	Score out of 30
1	Rota-Kiwan Boy Scout Camp and Al Sabo Preserve	Preserved land, woods, wetland, recreation, Atwater Mill Pond	30
2	Residence on 12th Street to highways	Wooded valley separated from new development	25
3	Parkview Hills	Planned development with greenspace preserved, lakes	22
4	South of Parkview Hills to Oakland Drive	Creek splits into two branches, forms ponds around Angling Road, nice emergent vegetation west of Oakland Drive	16.5
5	Along Timberlane, west end	Wide wooded riparian valley to north, close lawns to south	25
6	End of Timberlane	Creek splits around residence with seawalls	23
7	South of City Well Fields to DeHaan Road	Wooded wetland area, creek allowed to use floodplain, green space (wood lot and meadow from Holiday Lane to DeHaan on south side of creek)	28
8	West Fork Crossing, Lowe's, Meijers	Severely impacted, buried under parking lot, scored before creek was diverted	7
9	Pratt Road and Candelwyk Apartments	Flashy flows, litter inputs, invasive vegetation (e.g., mint) in apartment complex	9
10	Blanche Hall Preserve to confluence with Portage Creek	Preserved wooded area, good habitat quality	27

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