“Grossly Polluted” to Revitalized: Visit the Mill Creek

Contributors: Claire Carlson, Beth Himburg

Once a thriving waterway, then being polluted by humans and labeled “the most endangered urban river in North America”, then restoring it to a healthy water body, there have been many transitions throughout the life of Mill Creek. Come and explore one of the largest stream restoration projects in SW Ohio!

Join the Mill Creek Alliance and Green Umbrella’s Greenspace Alliance for the Meet a Greenspace Hike with Mill Creek Alliance on Friday, April 18 from 3:00-4:30 p.m.

A Journey Through the Waters of Time

Originally called the Maketewa by the Shawnee peoples who called this region home, the creek was once a source of sustenance. By the late 1700s, settlers began to arrive, renaming the waters Mill Creek, and in 1791 the first mill was constructed along the creek in Northside. As the population expanded and the Industrial Revolution boomed, bridges were built, canals dug, and sewage began being dumped into the Creek. As human growth pushed forward, wildlife in the creek waters disappeared, and factory and sewer waste transformed the once clean water into a “grossly polluted” waterbody that could no longer sustain life. During the Green Revolution of the early 1970s and subsequent introduction of the Clean Water Act, industries began to stop discharging waste into the Creek. Projects including the Rivers Unlimited Mill Creek Restoration Project and newly formed groups like the Mill Creek Watershed Council and the Mill Creek Yacht Club began their revitalization efforts in the mid to late 1990s, laying the foundation for what the Mill Creek Alliance is today.

The Healing Journey

Over the past 25+ years, the Mill Creek Alliance has worked to revitalize these waters to their once pristine state. They have implemented nearly 30 major restoration projects, with one of the largest being their Twin Creek Wetland Enhancement Project.

Installed in 2012, the Twin Creek Preserve (TCP) Project set out to achieve full water quality attainment with Warm Water Habitat Aquatic Life Standards. These standards are designed to protect productive warm water aquatic communities, fowl, animal wildlife, arboreous growth, and agricultural and industrial use. Adherence or nonadherence to these standards is based on how much pollution is discharged into a water body. To achieve these standards, restoration on segments of the Mill Creek mainstem and East Fork Mill Creek needed to be employed.

The 5-acre Twin Creek Preserve wetland was designed to have flow from both the Mill Creek and East Fork Mill Creek whenever each stream increased in elevation. When this happens, excess water will be stored and filtered through the vegetation planted in the wetland, rather than continuing downstream. Wetlands serve important functions in an ecosystem, trapping and slowly releasing surface water, rain, snowmelt, and flood waters, reducing flood heights and erosion. Additionally, because of the numerous plants that reside in wetlands, they can enhance water quality by filtering out pollutants.

A few years after the project was completed, Twin Creek Preserve was listed as an “eBird Hotspot” in Ohio, as wetland birds such as herons, ducks, geese, and osprey frequent the lush area. Additionally, sampling done by the Midwest Biodiversity Institute has indicated large improvements in the water, biological, and habitat quality.

Explore the Mill Creek!

The Mill Creek Alliance has worked tirelessly for the past 25 years to bring life back to this once-thriving creek. We hope you’ll join us in celebrating and experiencing these accomplishments at our upcoming hike with Mill Creek Alliance! The hike will take place on Friday, April 18 from 3:00-4:30 pm at the Twin Creek Preserve and will be guided by Mill Creek Alliance staff. We will meet in the parking lot at 12033 Best Place, Sharonville, OH 45241.

This hike is part of our monthly Meet a Greenspace Hiking series. We hope these hikes will provide those who join the time and space they need to reconnect with nature. If you have any questions, contact Green Umbrella’s Greenspace Alliance Manager Claire Carlson at claire@greenumbrella.org.