Editor's note: This is the last article in a series documenting Elizabeth Bluemink's investigation of the health of Choccolocco Creek.
With so much attention devoted to its PCBs, it may seem that Choccolocco Creek doesn't have much else going on in it.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
At least four fledgling conservation and recreation efforts are under way for the creek.
Since the PCB alarm signaled in 1993, attention to the creek's overall ecological health has increased dramatically. Several of those efforts are reaching their zenith.
Just about every week, some stretch of Choccolocco Creek receives a bit of attention from the USDA's National Soil Conservation Service, which in recent years has worked with local landowners to limit erosion and agricultural runoff that threatens the creek.
This winter, the NRCS and the Geological Survey of Alabama are wrapping up work on the Choccolocco Creek Watershed Project, a five-year, $1.4 million initiative to reduce nonpoint source pollution such as farm fertilizers and urban runoff in the creek. The project also includes creation of a manual for stream-improvement projects in the Coosa River Basin. The Alabama Department of Environmental Management administers the project, which receives matching funds from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
The Geological Survey of Alabama will complete a related five-year investigation of Choccolocco's water quality and biological communities in January. The investigation, which did not address PCB or other toxins, will pinpoint areas where more work is needed to stem bacteria and nutrient pollution.
In Choccolocco Creek, the survey collected 61 species of fish, approximately one-fifth of all the fish species that occupy Alabama waters. Overall, their studies indicate that the creek is "functioning well," said Dr. Patrick O'Neil, chief of the survey's biological resources division.
The watershed project administrator, Jennifer Yates, said she will submit a final report on the project in April to ADEM and EPA. During the past five years, she says, she has been impressed with the tenacity of the creek. "Even with all of the impacts on it, it's still a thriving and very diverse system."
To some of its enthusiasts, Choccolocco has seemed full of paradoxes.
Says Brad McLane, executive director of the Alabama Rivers Alliance, "It's too simplistic to say that the creek is polluted. While this is true, it is just part of the story."
He adds, "The big picture is that some parts of it are healthy and some are not. And pollution problems can vary considerably within one quarter-mile stretch of the creek."
Gradually, local residents are getting involved in helping the creek.
Francine Hutchinson of Anniston is getting her grassroots organization, Friends of Choccolocco Creek, geared up for water-quality monitoring in the watershed. Volunteers receive free training and water chemistry kits if they agree to monitor a stream segment on a monthly basis.
Katherine Eddins and Mark Pentecost of the Chattowah Open Land Trust are drumming up interest among private landowners to set aside the tree-lined banks of Choccolocco for permanent conservation.
Calhoun County Commissioner Robert Downing, is pushing ahead on efforts to develop a canoe trail on the upper half of the creek.
Pete Conroy of Jacksonville State University's Environmental Policy and Information Center hopes to collect the necessary funding to build a Choccolocco Creek Field School a building with classrooms, lodging and an outdoor amphitheater at Joseph Springs. The Alabama Forestry Commission recently donated a parcel of land for the building within walking distance of the creek and the Choccolocco Wildlife Management Area.
"Choccolocco Creek needs lots of friends," Downing said. "It has environmental problems that we are all aware of, but we aren't all aware of how much natural beauty is still untouched. The canoe trail is one way I think we can highlight that."
Downing said he believes that once people begin to appreciate Choccolocco Creek, "they will bring pressure to make sure the creek is not exploited in ways it shouldn't be."
Aside from toxics, Choccolocco has its share of other water quality problems.
The Anniston and Oxford wastewater treatment plants have spilled about 70 million gallons of untreated and partially treated wastewater into the creek this year.
Anniston's plant was responsible for most of the spills, which occurred during very wet spring weather. Plans are under way to upgrade the plant this coming year, according to Jim Miller, president of the Anniston Water Works and Sewer Board.
To a large extent, the Choccolocco Creek Watershed Project and other recent NRCS programs have been successful in their attempts to prevent erosion and to fence off cattle from the creek.
Over the past few years, much experimental work has been accomplished by NRCS employees, such as tying fallen trees to the creek banks to provide feeding areas for fish, planting 820 willow trees and installing root wads an elaborate system by which tree trunks are buried in the banks with their root structures thrust out like an embankment in order to prevent erosion.
"It's something new we tried," said Jeff Holloway, engineer for the Choccolocco Creek Conservancy District, during a visit last week to a half-mile stream bank project near White Plains.
Holloway estimates the NRCS construction projects on Choccolocco Creek since 1991 have totaled $2.2 million. That does not include all the costly preparation work, he added.
Geological Survey scientists say that their five years of data show some recurring bacteria and nutrient problems near several Choccolocco tributaries, including Egoniaga and Cheaha creeks.
The survey monitored nine stations on the creek on a monthly basis, testing for typical water quality criteria including fecal coliform and nitrogen. Testing in the lower portion of Cheaha Creek where it enters Choccolocco had "pretty strong indications of problems due to (agricultural) runoff," said Bob Chandler, chief of the survey's surface water division.
At times, Egoniaga Creek had alarming bacteria counts, yet one of the most diverse fish populations. "It's almost contradictory evidence," the survey's O'Neil said.
"Sometimes the chemical analysis shows one thing and the biology shows another. You have to be careful," he added.
Chandler and O'Neil emphasized that the biggest emerging threat to Choccolocco Creek will be road, residential and commercial development linked with the environmental problem called non-point source pollution. Already, new suburban homes and businesses are invading the watershed, stripping vegetation from the hills and the floodplain.
Gradually, the natural vegetation protecting Choccolocco flora and fauna from the choking effects of dirt and nutrients is disappearing.
"This is going to be the next frontier," O'Neil said.
