Pond Creek Watershed

The Pond Creek Watershed has an area approximately 89.3 square miles and contains 649.6 stream miles in Jefferson County.

The table below shows the various land use percentages for the watershed.

Water Quality Impacts

Flooding is a serious problem in the Pond Creek Watershed. The area historically has included more wetlands than any other watershed in the county, but development within the watershed has caused widespread destruction of wetlands, adding to severe flooding in the area. This destruction of wetlands also has reduced the watershed's ability to filter pollutants before they reach the stream.

Fecal bacteria levels violate recreational standards about half the time. Small wastewater treatment plants produce elevated levels of phosphorus and nitrogen, which can deplete oxygen in streams by causing excessive algae growth. Oxygen depletion and occasional chemical spills have decreased fish populations in the watershed; in fact, fish kills occur in this are more than anywhere else in Jefferson County.

Removal of trees and other plants along stream banks has reduced habitat quality, as has extensive channelization (dredging and straightening of streams to increase flow rates). Many streams have been channelized to the extent that they offer little or no habitat for fish or invertebrates. Lack of stream bank vegetation has resulted in elevated stream temperatures during the summer.

The following table summarizes point sources in the Pond Creek Watershed.

Monitoring

MSD has performed monitoring activities within the Pond Creek Watershed.

Strategies

MSD is currently in the process of prioritizing Jefferson County watersheds for development of a water quality-based evaluation tool. A schedule has not been established for the development of a water quality tool for the Pond Creek Watershed.

Project Implementation

As was stated before, the Pond Creek Watershed contains both SSO point source discharges and non-point source water quality impacts. MSD has undertaken a number of projects within the watershed, ranging from flow reduction project, to those that improve habitat.

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