Opelika Middle School students took time out during their last day of school Thursday to take care of an old friend — Rocky Brook Creek.
For years, the creek has been a source of recreation and wonderment for kids when they visit the Opelika Municipal Park, also known as Monkey Park.
“I like coming to Monkey Park,” Opelika Middle School seventh-grader Tia Spence said, “and without the stream it isn’t even the same thing.”
The creek is also a tributary for Saugahatchee Creek and part of the Saugahatchee watershed, which provides water to people living in Lee, Tallapoosa, Chambers and Macon counties.
For all of those reasons, about 80 life science students at the middle school joined members of Saugahatchee Watershed Management Plan (SWaMP) and Save Our Saugahatchee (S.O.S.) Thursday morning to plant vegetation on the banks of Rocky Brook Creek.
The effort is part of a three-year restoration project for the Saugahatchee watershed that is funded by a grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and administered by Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM).
Sections of the Saugahatchee watershed — the Pepperell Branch and Yates Lake — are on the ADEM impaired waters list, which is based on the federal Clean Water Act water quality standards.
Reduced bank vegetation and increased nonpoint source pollution have negatively impacted Rocky Brook Creek, said Wendy Seesock, SWaMP co-coordinator and president of S.O.S.
Opelika Middle School students were armed with spades, shovels and dibbles Thursday to plant vegetation that could improve the condition of Rocky Brook Creek and the Saugahatchee watershed, said Eric Reutebuch, SWaMP co-coordinator.
The students took turns in two groups. While one group planted vegetation that included dog fetter, sedge, cardinal flower and American Beauty Bush, the other group joined Eve Brantley from the Alabama Cooperative Extension System at Auburn University for an informative walk along the creek.
A number of the students joined S.O.S. members over the past two weeks to monitor the chemical and biological condition of Rocky Brook Creek. The results will be listed on the SWaMP Web site — www.swamp.auburn.edu.
Tia Spence and Martevia Bledsoe worked together to plant a maple tree at the top of the creek’s banks.
“In a few years, when we’ll have fresh water, it’ll be worth it,” Martevia said.
Classmate Johanna Cummings wasn’t sure what she planted on Thursday, but she said the effort was still worthwhile.
“It’s nice to know that you’re helping the creek get healthier,” Johanna said. “It’s like a sick person and we’re the doctors.”
bharvey@oanow.com | 737-2546
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