Volunteers gathered recently at two spots on Mill Creek in Phenix City to continue an ongoing project to restore the health of the waterway.

Mill Creek flows from Smiths Station through Phenix City into the Chattahoochee River just below the Whitewater Express Park, the longest urban whitewater rafting course in the country. While the creek is nearly 10 miles long, the creek’s watershed – the area of land that drains into the tributary – covers about 25 square miles.

Over the years, Smiths Station and Phenix City have grown and expanded. The changes have had a negative impact on the health of Mill Creek, which was classified as impaired by the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM) in 2006. Water-resistant surfaces like rooftops, streets and parking lots change how water flows in the watershed. In a more natural landscape like a forest, storm water soaks into the ground with just a small percentage making its way to streams and rivers. Today, because of increased development, much more water makes its way into Mill Creek, bringing with it increased nutrients and sediment that hurt habitats for fish and wildlife. That increased flow of water also causes excessive erosion of the creek bank.

Sydney Smith, ACES Water Program intern at Auburn University, along with Auburn’s Watershed Program assistant Alex James and ADEM’s Shannon McGlynn, prepare live stakes of elderberry, silky willow and dogwood trees to be planted along the bank of the Mill Creek at Crawford Road in Phenix City. The trees will provide shade for wildlife as well as help stabilize the bank. (Linda Brannon/Alabama NewsCenter)

ADEM environmental scientist Shannon McGlynn picks up trash along the banks of Mill Creek. (Linda Brannon/Alabama NewsCenter)

Volunteers prepare to plant live stakes of elderberry, silky willow and dogwood trees along the bank of the Mill Creek at Crawford Road in Phenix to help stabilize the bank and provide shade for wildlife. From left to right, Katie Thomas, Alabama Power; Shannon McGlynn, ADEM; Sydney Smith, Auburn University; and Alex James, Auburn University Watershed Program assistant. (Linda Brannon/Alabama NewsCenter)

Auburn University student and ACES Water Program intern Sydney Smith prepares live stakes to be planted along the bank of the Mill Creek in Phenix City. (Linda Brannon/Alabama NewsCenter)

Alex James, left, Auburn University Watershed Program assistant, and Sydney Smith, ACES Water Program intern, prepare to plant live stakes of elderberry, silky willow and dogwood trees along Mill Creek to help stabilize the bank. (Linda Brannon/Alabama NewsCenter)

Auburn University student and ACES Water Program intern Sydney Smith collected trash from the banks of Mill Creek recently at the Crawford Road bridge in Phenix City. (Linda Brannon/Alabama NewsCenter)

Alex James, left, Auburn University Watershed Program assistant, and Sydney Smith, ACES Water Program intern, plant live stakes of elderberry, silky willow and dogwood trees along Mill Creek to help stabilize the bank. The trees will also provide shade to stream wildlife. (Linda Brannon/Alabama NewsCenter)

The Mill Creek project’s main goals are to reduce pollution in the creek’s watershed and improve the creek’s water quality. The project is funded in part by a Five Star Restoration Grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and Alabama Power, as well as a grant from ADEM through the Clean Water Act.  The project has received two Clean Water Act grants, in 2012 and 2014, and there are plans to apply for a third grant next year.

As part of the project, a watershed management plan has been developed for the creek. It provides a more comprehensive guide to addressing the long-term health of the waterway.

“The project has been very successful,” said Alex James, Watershed Program assistant for the Alabama Cooperative Extension Service at Auburn University. “As we have employed more and more best-management practices in the Mill Creek Watershed, we have been able to alleviate a lot of the strain on the environment.

“Another important goal of this project,” James said, “is to provide community education and promote community involvement. We rely on community partners to help us get the work done.”

During the recent event, volunteers planted elderberry, silky willow and silky dogwood trees along the creek bank at Crawford Road and Broad Street. “The trees will help stabilize the bank through their extensive root systems and provide shade for stream wildlife,” James said.

For more information about the Mill Creek Restoration Project, email James at las0008@auburn.edu, or visit the Facebook page Friends of Mill Creek.