By Jessica Adams
Special to the Turnagain Times
If you’ve been down by Whittier Creek lately you may have noticed that it’s looking a little greener this year than it has in the past. The Whittier Watershed Council has been working on several restoration and conservation projects that have not only been helping to maintain the health of the creek but have also added to its beauty. Council member Jim Barnett, owner of Passage Canal Development, with the help of other watershed council members has been working on restoring the vegetation along the creek. So far they have planted willows along the creek and added several vegetation mats (areas where the soil, trees and plants were picked up in one solid mat from another area and relocated to the stream bank).
Barnett planted willows and put down a native grass seed mix to re-build the original native ecology of Whittier Creek’s stream bank. Volunteers donated their time to help clean up the creek and pull weeds this year.
The Watershed Council is also working with the school to try and promote conservation practices that will help to keep the creek clean for many years to come. Kids have taken part in Whittier Beautification Day and some also got a chance to try there hand at planting native flowers.
The Council is currently gathering data for a Contaminate Source Inventory that will help identify the biggest problem areas that need correction. Once the list is complete the Council can use it to establish the best management practices possible to keep contaminates out of the creek and local drinking water. Whittier won the Great Alaska Taste Test last year and contaminants could ruin the quality of Whittier’s drinking water if they are not controlled.
Speaking of drinking water new signs posted around the creek and at the campground may have also caught your attention. The signs read ‘Drinking Water Source Protection Area’ and were posted by the Alaska Rural Water Association at the request of the WWC. Whittier has excellent water quality and the council hopes that the signs will bring water quality to the attention of those living in Whittier.
The biggest problem that the Watershed Council is trying to correct is the Whittier Levee. In recent years the levee has eroded so badly that there is some question as to how much longer it will be able to hold. The levee was built in the 1940’s as a way to divert the creek around the town of Whittier instead of meandering through it. Over the years sediment has built up on the creek bed causing the creek to rise. The rising waters have been hitting the levee harder and harder, eroding the soil around the creek and allowing it to inch its way outside the banks. If the levee were to fail the creek would begin its natural course right through the center of town again, and I’m sure you can see where that would be a bit of a problem. The Watershed Council is trying to gain the funding necessary to fix the levee so that this doesn’t happen, but it will take some time.
The Whittier Watershed Council has been able to do a lot of great work but they are always looking for a little extra help. To learn more you can contact Charlene Arneson, WWC Chair at 472-2441.