News-Sentinel.com

Friday, 11/10/2000

TROUBLED WATERS

A Polluted Path

Contaminants enter the St. Joseph River at many different places within its watershed.

By KEVIN KILBANE of The News-Sentinel

1.At the northernmost headwaters of the St. Joseph River southwest of Hillsdale, Mich., clear water flows from the cattails, brush and swamp willows in a 5-acre wetland.

2. The Nature Conservancy began work more than a year ago to conserve the East Fork of the St. Joseph River's West Branch near Cambria, Mich., because of its high water quality and diverse wildlife. Stream inhabitants include the endangered clubshell mussel and 14 other freshwater mussel species.

3. Underground aquifers and rivers supply about 62 percent of the St. Joseph River's water. These subterranean water sources bubble up through the sandy, gravelly soils of Hillsdale County, Mich., pumping millions of gallons of water into the St. Joseph River.

4. In the early 1900s, workers deepened and straightened the St. Joseph's East Branch from Prattville, Mich.., to Montpelier, Ohio. Channelizing increases a stream's ability to carry away water after rains. But the work removes pools, riffles and submerged logs that provide habitat for fish and other aquatic life, and it can increase flooding downstream.

5. Farmers cultivate about 64 percent of the 1,075 square miles in the three-state St. Joseph River watershed. Rains wash off soil, fertilizers, weedkillers and animal manure from farmland into ditches and streams. Raw sewage flows in from malfunctioning rural and residential septic systems and -- when heavy rains cause overflows -- from upstream communities' sewage-treatment plants. These problems have led the U.S. EPA to identify most of the St. Joseph's main stem as an "impaired waterway." Impaired status means erosion, chemical contamination, channelizing and other human activity have adversely impacted a stream's chemical makeup, its aquatic life or suitability for recreational use.

6. Channelizing a decade or more ago significantly reduced wildlife habitat in the upper and middle sections of Bear Creek, which begins near Edon in Williams County, Ohio. Channelizing also increased the amount of eroded soil the stream carries to the St. Joseph River. Liquid sewage from residential septic tanks in nearby Blakeslee, Ohio, flows into a stormwater drain that discharges into the creek.

7. Soil washing off farm fields in the 5 1/2 -mile stretch of Fish Creek from the Indiana-Ohio border to the St. Joseph River smothers mussels, insects and other bottom-dwelling organisms. A pipeline rupture in September 1993 at the state border spilled nearly 30,000 gallons of diesel fuel into the creek and on surrounding land.

8. Big Run, which flows past Butler in DeKalb County and then to the St. Joseph River south of Edgerton, Ohio, has the poorest water quality of any stream sampled in the watershed, the St. Joseph River Watershed Initiative reports. Data point to serious problems with E. coli bacteria from livestock and septic systems. The stream also suffers from excessive erosion and contamination by the weedkiller alachlor, a possible carcinogen.

9. Fish Creek's clean water provides habitat for 43 species of fish and 31 species of mussels, including three mussels on the federal endangered species list. Researchers believe the creek, which flows through Steuben and DeKalb counties, holds the last white cat's paw pearly mussels on Earth. The Nature Conservancy has worked since 1992 to preserve the stream's water quality and wildlife.

10. St. Joseph Watershed Initiative sampling shows Matson Ditch, which joins Cedar Creek southeast of Waterloo, carries a higher percentage of eroded soil than any stream tested. It also has problems with E. coli contamination, high amounts of phosphorus from fertilizer runoff and elevated levels of the weedkiller alachlor.

11. Cedar Creek and its tributaries carry some of the highest levels of E. coli bacteria in the St. Joseph River watershed. Suspected sources include livestock waste and malfunctioning septic systems. Ingesting E. coli can cause flulike symptoms and, in some cases, death. Researchers also now find only nine of the nearly 30 mussel species that once inhabited the creek. The Indiana Department of Health has found copper, lead and zinc in creek sediment, apparently discharged by factories. These metals are believed to be a factor in the mussels' decline.

12. The Indiana Department of Environmental Management and U.S. EPA have identified Garrett City Ditch as impaired because the water contained high levels of ammonia in a 1992 sampling. State officials suspect the ammonia came from the Garrett wastewater treatment plant. They are testing the ditch again this fall.

13. Cedarville Reservoir holds about 550 million gallons of water that can be used to supplement what the city of Fort Wayne draws from the St. Joseph River. The settling of eroded soil has reduced water depth to about 4 1/2 feet in all but the river channel. The shallow water will not support most sport fish, leaving carp to take over.

14. People should limit their consumption of carp, crappie, redhorse, channel catfish and rock bass caught in the Allen County portion of the St. Joseph River, the Indiana Fish Consumption Advisory warns. Women who are pregnant or breast-feeding, women who plan to have children and children age 14 and younger should not eat large examples of these species. Industrial plant discharges and power plant emissions have polluted many Great Lakes-area streams and lakes with mercury and PCBs. The contaminants are consumed by bottom-dwelling fish and species that feed on them.

15. The Three Rivers Filtration Plant processes an average of 34 million gallons of river water per day to supply its more than 200,000 home and business customers. The plant draws its water just above the dam at Johnny Appleseed Park. Pumps then push the water through two 42-inch underground pipes to the filtration plant, which is located at the confluence of the St. Joseph, St. Marys and Maumee rivers.

Sources: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; Ohio Environmental Protection Agency; Indiana Department of Environmental Management; Indiana Department of Health; St. Joseph River Watershed Initiative; U.S. Geological Survey; The Nature Conservancy's Upper St. Joseph River Project; and Three Rivers Filtration Plant 1999 annual report.