Ohio Watershed Network Webinar series

Please join us for the next Ohio Watershed Network webinar featuring Anthony Sasson of The Nature Conservancy who will present 'Big Darby Creek: Ten Years After. Have state and local measures protected biodiversity?' There is no cost to participate – all you need is to connect at http://carmenconnect.osu.edu/r2vi79q5by4/.

Anthony Sasson is The Nature Conservancy in Ohio’s Freshwater Conservation Manager, covering water policy and aquatic biodiversity protection in the Big Darby Creek watershed and statewide.  He has over 30 years of experience in Clean Water Act, water quality issues and environmental protection, and degrees in environmental science, biology and geological sciences.

Summary: Big Darby Creek, a National Scenic River because of its outstanding biological diversity, is challenged because of development and agricultural stresses, and located on the western edge of the expanding metropolitan area of Columbus, Ohio. Over the past decade, it has been the subject of relatively advanced and focused local planning and state environmental policies and implementation. One of the most evident threats has been development and stormwater runoff.  Recognizing that site-by-site approaches might be not be effective, a watershed-wide effort was worked out, resulting in a combination of more advanced protections from Ohio EPA.  Also in 2006, local jurisdictions established mechanisms to implement the plan, the Big Darby Accord, which remains in effect. Have these efforts protected this outstanding resource, the Big and Little Darby Creeks’ aquatic life?