Serving Lucas, Ottawa, Sandusky and Wood Counties
Village officials, as well as state government and community members, celebrated the official ribbon cutting ceremony for Dry Creek Preserve in Walbridge on Sept. 2.
The new park and half-mile walking trail, which includes 1,480 linear feet of Dry Creek and its associated floodplain on nine acres, was made possible through U.S. EPA funding from the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative.
It is designed to improve water quality, benefit aquatic communities and help manage increasing stream flow caused by rapid development of land upstream.
Walbridge mayor Edward Kolanko said the additional green space accents the community.
“The ability for us to be able to provide places like this within our small community is very unique,” he said. “People really tend to appreciate a lot of amenities that we offer, and having a wonderful walking path and a preserve is an addition to that.”
The new preserve, which is located on the north side of Walbridge Road, approximately a quarter mile from East Broadway, was made possible because it is located within the Maumee Area of Concern and is a priority project for aquatic populations and habitat.
By regrading streambanks, the project recreated natural floodplain areas, also known as benches, that allow the stream to spread out of its banks and slow down. This encourages sediment deposition on the benches, allows for plants to uptake nutrients and reduces the negative impacts of both to the stream.
The creation of wetland and upland habitat areas adjacent to Dry Creek can also slow or capture surface runoff by allowing the runoff to pond in low areas and then soak slowly into the ground. This improves the quality of the water entering Dry Creek.
Kolanko said that a couple million gallons of water were displaced by the volume of the dirt.
“That means that instead of a couple million gallons of water going in that direction, it kind of takes a break into this natural preserve area before it dissipates back into the creek and continues on to Lake Erie,” he said. “Less water pressure for Walbridge residents helps our systems work a little bit more efficiently. It's completely a win-win.”
The whole project began around 2019 when current Northwood city administrator Kevin Laughlin, who worked in the Wood County Engineer’s Office at the time, identified a grant opportunity.
“One of my issues as mayor was a lot of water from that direction flows to that direction of Lake Erie,” Kolanko said. “Walbridge is kind of uniquely situated between Dry Creek and Cedar Creek, so all of our storm water is going to flow one way or the other, and what we've seen a lot of times throughout the years is that the water pressure and that water flow has become greater.
“We were fortunate enough to get this grant. This project represents about a $500,000 to $600,000 investment into our community. That’s pretty huge for the village of Walbridge. Six years, people think that’s a long time. Things take time unfortunately. Good things take a lot of time, but COVID happened in 2020, (and there has been) different administrations in federal government, and different administrations in the state government. A lot of things change, and you have to work through that stuff, but it did get to the final point, and it takes a lot of people to come on board to make this happen.”
Features and benefits
Benthic communities feature benthic macroinvertebrates, which are freshwater organisms including dragonflies, snails, mussels, worms and insects that live in or on the creek and creek bottom, which are a key food source for many fish species.
Trees planted within and near the floodplain will help reduce the total amount and rate of stormwater runoff and improve the water quality of runoff before it enters the stream.
A broad range of native plant material has been installed, including trees, shrubs and groundcover, which provides a place for birds, butterflies and other animals to flourish, and it improves stream water quality.
Much of those trees, which are very small, are covered in white plastic tubing to prevent deer, for example, from destroying them. Once the trees grow large enough, the tubes will be removed.
Healthy fish habitats will benefit both aquatic and terrestrial species, helping them to reproduce, grow, feed and find shelter. These habitats also help to filter pollutants and restore natural environments.
Live stakes, which are living, woody plant cuttings capable of rooting when inserted into the banks, establish a root network in streambanks, thus helping to minimize erosion. Live stakes can also grow into trees or shrubs that stabilize the streambank and provide riparian habitat.
“There is a sense of pride that this was accomplished,” Kolanko said. “I really hope that people are able to come out here and take a minute or two to just walk and be part of nature. It's quiet. We're not sitting in front of a TV. We're not sitting in front of a computer. We're not sitting in front of our phone. Just take a walk and enjoy nature. It’s something that we didn’t have here yesterday. We have it here today.”
The park is open from dawn to dusk.
“We still have some maintenance work to do,” Kolanko said. “This is going to be an open park for everybody to come and enjoy, not just the Village of Walbridge residents. Lake Township residents, Millbury residents, Northwood residents — everybody's welcome to come and enjoy this green space.
“A lot of people had to come together to make this work. As a community, we're the benefactors of that. And as the village of Walbridge, we're going to take care of this preserve, and we really encourage everyone else to do the same.”
