Sedona AZ (October 25, 2014) – The Oak Creek Watershed Council (OCWC) has been awarded a $120,040 grant by the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) through its water quality improvement grant program to address and control polluted runoff in the Carroll Canyon drainage. Mitigation will focus on the Settlers Rest neighborhood in West Sedona, located near the top of Carroll Canyon.

Carroll Canyon drains most of West Sedona into Oak Creek. The area has a number of recreation trails which see heavy use by hikers, bikers, and horseback riders. These uses likely contribute to higher levels of erosion and fecal matter which are carried into Oak Creek during storm events. Oak Creek, from its headwaters to around its confluence with the Verde River, is listed as impaired for E. coli bacteria, an indicator of fecal pollution.

“The community of Sedona has a vital role to play in the stewardship of Oak Creek,” said Ryan Matson, OCWC Grants Manager and Director. “This project puts private citizens of Sedona in the forefront, and empowers them to become aware of, and more readily address, potential non-point pollution sources that may occur on their private property. This non-point source pollution could eventually end up in Oak Creek, and a distributed, citizen-oriented strategy toward localized treatment and watershed stewardship is a great way to address private property drainage impacts in the Oak Creek Watershed before they reach the creek.”

This project will serve to empower private properties to increase their watershed responsibility, as well as educate residents about ways to easily reduce erosion and pollutants carried by storm flows. It will also increase the percolation of storm water into the ground, help native vegetation thrive, and create a community cohesion around storm water management and stewardship. The goal is to ultimately reduce or eliminate the transport of pollutants like E. coli bacteria into Oak Creek.

In addition, the Settlers Rest Stormwater Project will work with community members on private property to assist in understanding Green Infrastructure strategies of Best Management Practices (BMP’s). These practices utilize low-cost and publicly approachable solutions which are easily maintained by participating property owners including a series of retention basins and armored spillways, planting of native plants for soil retention, and bio-remediation.

Outreach efforts will be made to encourage other residents and homeowner associations throughout Sedona to adopt similar practices.

“During the last grant we received from ADEQ” said Marie McCormick, OCWC Director of Operations, “we were able to develop our Oak Creek Community Outreach Program further with our Education and Outreach Grant. This new grant will enable the OCWC to hit the ground running with low impact design landscape projects, and to educate residents and visitors to our area on the importance of keeping the Creek corridor clean utilizing cost effective measures locals can implement into their own landscape. Oak Creek is perpetually on the “non-attaining” list due to the persistence of the indicator fecal coli form bacteria Escherichia coli (E. coli) suggesting fecal contamination. This is a potential health issue that is only going to get worse if we all do not become more aware of it and do something about it.”

Residents and visitors will learn more about the stewardship of Oak Creek by visiting www.oakcreekwatershed.org.

The Oak Creek Watershed Council also sponsors a second website which focuses on Oak Creek Canyon at www.oakcreekcanyonaz.org.

The Oak Creek Watershed Council is a nonprofit 501 (c) (3) dedicated to maintaining a standard of excellence for watershed stewardship, as well as preserving the integrity of Oak Creek and its tributaries.

For the best Arizona news and views, read www.SedonaEye.com daily!