In eighth grade science classes, students visit the East Branch of Indian Creek weekly to conduct calculations, including tests of the turbidity, phosphate, nitrate and pH levels of the water. They take detailed notes on the overall health of the creek and, thanks to the Streamwatch Committee, the stream’s conditions have greatly improved. Test results have been fairly strong this year. The chemical levels, including phosphate levels, have sloped toward the norm. Once drastically out of control, the levels are closer to what is considered healthy. This is an incredibly impressive feat given the circumstances at the start.
“There was a rusted shopping cart. There was a rusted boiler. There was plaster and there were bricks. It was covered in invasive plants. And I remember going down there to pick up trash and one of my students said, ‘Mr. Ross, we could do this every week and it would never end.’ …We made friends with the neighbors and then they started helping us. So then we inspired them to take over, and then we got a grant to buy all of these plants, we put trees and shrubs in. And now there are tadpoles and dragonflies and little salamanders there. And the habitat is much healthier and the wetland is functioning so much better.” -Doug Ross
Twenty years ago, when Mr. Ross first visited the wetland, shopping carts, boilers, and plaster pieces littered the river. “There was no gate so people would just dump stuff in. There was plaster and bricks and it was covered in invasive plants,” Mr. Ross said of his first exposure to the creek. Now, Mr. Ross and his class are proud to say that East Branch of Indian Creek is on the road to recovery. There have been discoveries of many animals that can only live in conditions of minimal pollution.
The stream in prior years has been cleaned up by eighth grade science classes, who have received various donations from organizations with hopes of restoring the stream into its healthiest conditions yet. Once they have received as much information as possible, these students create a website explaining their findings. Friends’ Central is known to produce excellent projects and our community has been given many gifts of thanks from local science groups. We hope for this year to be as wonderful and helpful as years in the past!
All photos by Beth Pipes for The Phoenix Inquirer.