How Healthy is Your Creek?
	Keeping Your Creek Healthy for Residents
	Keeping Your Creek Healthy for Businesses
	Use of Creek-Friendly Gardening and Landscaping Practices
	Protecting Creek Flow
	Preventing Erosion Problems
	Stabilizing Creek Banks
	Getting Help
	Map of Arlington Creek System

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Creek Care Guide for Residents and Businesses was adapted from a guide published by Susan Harris and Erika Campos of the Rivers, Trails and Conservation Assistance Program of the National Park Service

KEEPING YOUR CREEK HEALTHY FOR RESIDENTS

As a first step, learn what products become pollutants when they enter a storm drain or creek. If proper disposal of a particular product is inconvenient, consider using an alternative product. Household hazardous wastes, including paints, pesticides, herbicides, and vehicle fluids, may be disposed of at the Fort Worth Environmental Collection Center or held for the mobile collection unit.

• Never dump gasoline, diesel fuel, motor oil, antifreeze, battery acid, or other automotive fluids into a creek or storm drain. Even in low concentrations, these automotive products are extremely toxic to fish and other aquatic wildlife. Place used motor oil or antifreeze in sturdy, sealed containers, caps taped down, and recycle through local auto service shops or at the Fort Worth Environmental Collection Center.

• Properly dispose of paints, thinners, and other solvents. Do not clean paint brushes in a gutter or near a storm drain or creek. Paint products, when disposed of improperly, can cause harm to fish, wildlife, and people. Use water-based latex paints whenever possible; they are less toxic than oil-based paints, turpentine and thinners - and they can be recycled. Use up leftover paints, or share with a friend or neighbor. Small amounts of leftover paints may be air-dried in cans and discarded in the garbage. Dispose of unusable paints and paint products at the Fort Worth Environmental Collection Center. Paint thinners should be filtered and reused.

• Never dump water from carpet cleaning into a creek or storm drain. Carpet cleaning chemicals are detrimental to creeks; dispose of these solutions down a sink or toilet. If you use the services of a carpet cleaning company, make sure the company does not dispose of the water into a creek or storm drain.

• Clean automotive spills using "dry" cleanup methods. Use cat litter or other absorbent materials to remove spills from paved surfaces. Depending on the substance spilled, dispose of absorbent materials in the garbage can or at the Fort Worth Environmental Collection Center. If you must use water in a final cleanup step, direct flow to a lawn area - not the street, gutter, or storm drain.

• Check your rain gutters and other pipes to see where they drain. Make sure they do not carry water directly into the creek. Runoff from roof surfaces contributes to the decline of creek health. Pipes projecting directly into a creek bank or flexible pipes allowed to drape down a bank cause erosion. Direct roof runoff to flat, grassed areas for filtration before leaving the property. Consider using cisterns, on-site filtration or gray water systems to capture roof runoff.

• Avoid hosing down paved surfaces or washing your car in the driveway or street. Even "biodegradable" soaps are toxic to fish and wildlife. Wash cars on a lawn or unpaved area, or use a commercial car wash.

Unfortunately, some people think of creeks as garbage dumps. You don't have to look far to find old shopping carts, used appliances, mattresses, car parts, bottles, cans, plastic, styrofoam and paper litter. This debris can become a hazard during floods. It can also be a potential threat to groundwater quality and provide breeding places for rodents and mosquitoes.

• Remove old tires, garbage, and litter from your property. Never store these materials within the flood zone. They may be carried away during storm events. Do not dump yard clippings down creek banks or within a flood zone. If you need assistance cleaning up the creek, contact some of the organizations listed at the end of this booklet for ideas and assistance.

• Do not remove naturally fallen and accumulated woody debris from channels. Leave natural vegetation on the banks and in the channel.

• Prepare your pool or spa for draining by letting the chlorine dissipate. Chlorine used in swimming pools and spas are toxic to aquatic organisms and other wildlife. You give the chlorine time to dissipate by allowing the water to sit for up to two weeks and then drain onto landscaping. If you cannot allow the pool water to sit, add sodium bisulfate in the amounts suggested on the label.

• Drain your pool onto landscaping or into the sanitary sewer. Swimming pool and spa water should never be drained to the street, gutter, or storm drain.

• Do not use copper-based algicides. Proper chlorination should take care of algae problems. Copper algicides used in swimming pools and spas are toxic to aquatic organisms and other wildlife.

• Discuss safe pool cleaning methods with your pool service, if you use one.

• Pick up animal waste in your yard and when walking your pet and dispose of the waste in the garbage. Dog and cat feces add excessive nutrients and bacterial pollution to water, which decreases water quality, causes unpleasant odors, and can also cause human health problems.

• Keep pets leashed in your yard, or fence pets out of the creek corridor. Pets can trample vegetation and terrorize wildlife within the creek corridor. People often believe a cat collar bell will alert birds to danger, but research has shown by the time a bell rings, it is often too late. A declawed cat can still kill wildlife.

• Establish horse paddock and pasture land at least 50 feet from the creek. Horse and livestock manure adds excessive nutrients and bacterial pollution to water, which decreases water quality, causes unpleasant odors, and can also cause human health problems. To minimize the runoff, keep the area between the pasture and water course well vegetated. Exclude horses and livestock from the creek by using barriers or fences which still allow for wildlife movement.

Report any spill or discharge other than rainwater to appropriate authorities for immediate cleanup.