TARA DUBOSE-SCHMITT: How to make Indian Creek a better stream and The Huntsville Times By and The Huntsville Times The Huntsville Times
on March 13, 2011 at 8:20 AM

The daffodils may be out, it might be 70 degrees in the sunshine, but no, it's not yet creek weather. That's what I tell my girls who are itching to kick off their shoes and wade in. Spring-fed, that water is still pretty chilly when it wanders past my house.

Indian Creek is in my backyard, literally. After a big rain, it's a tea-colored torrent that overflows its banks. Usually it's just a meandering stream, gurgling over the rocks. On some days, in the still pools, you can see to the bottom. There are a few minnows, occasionally a palm-sized fish sunning itself in the shallows. Sometimes, the creek is so clear you imagine it's as pure as the spring water from which it comes.

Except it's not. At times, a pile of foam builds up along the banks, clinging to tree roots. It's thick and cream-colored like a meringue on the water. We chunk rocks at it, trying to break off sections to float on downstream. What is that stuff?

I thought it warranted a call to the Alabama Department of Environmental Management. Among other duties, ADEM monitors all the waterways in Alabama, even the few miles of Indian Creek. What I learned is both enlightening and disturbing.

Since 1996 Indian Creek has been listed by ADEM as an "impaired waterway". According to the online report, this is mainly because of low dissolved oxygen levels in the water, which affects wildlife. But what causes this?

ADEM spokesman Scott Hughes explained to me that pollutants are categorized in two ways. First there are "point sources" - basically, where some entity has gotten permission to dump something into a waterway. In this case, Monrovia Elementary School is allowed to release treated wastewater into the creek. Sparkman High dumps into a tributary of Indian Creek. So, maybe playing in the creek isn't exactly like splashing around in potty water, but it's enough to give me pause.

At least point sources are monitored regularly and must stay within specified limits. Less controllable are the "non-point sources" - ADEM-speak for all the rest of the stuff that finds its way into the creek. This could be storm run-off from tilled agricultural land, feedlots, or waste from farm animals. As the old saying goes, the water won't run clear unless you get the hogs out of the creek (though, around here it's more likely cows).

In the case of suburban sprawl, it could be "landscaping issues," as Hughes puts it. Think about all those neat subdivisions with the golf-course grass, and the chemical services to keep it that way. I look across the creek at a culvert system emptying a neighborhood's drainage into the creek. That's just one subdivision of many between Kelly Spring and the Tennessee River, where Indian Creek ends up.

In 2007 the ADEM signed a watershed management plan, designed to improve water quality for Indian Creek. So far, $350,000 has been invested in various strategies. These include 4,000 feet of exclusion fencing to keep out cattle, 1,500 acres of conservation tillage to prevent washing, and seven acres of trees planted to filter the watershed.

Other aspects of the watershed management plan are more difficult to implement as it's non-regulatory. Therefore, the ADEM has to work with landowners and convince them of responsible practices to protect water quality. This involves farmers along the creek. It also includes homeowners like me. What happens in the watershed eventually affects water quality, so we all have to think past our own property lines.

Scott Hughes assured me that the impaired water quality poses no risk to people, assuming they don't drink from the creek. When the weather is warmer and the creek is foam-free, my girls will again be ankle-deep.

As usual, they'll look for crawdads and fish to catch. This year, though, I think I'll have them leave their buckets back at the house. Those critters have a hard enough time as it is.

Tara Dubose-Schmitt is a community columnist for The Huntsville Times.