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Improving Delaware Creek

Newly installed rain gardens and bioswales will help fix erosion problems, reduce runoff, and improve water quality and habitat. Delaware Creek is a 1.8-mile stream that drains five square miles. It enters the Maumee River at river mile 9.2.

    West Rain Garden

    8,280-square-foot rain garden and bioswale at Wildwood Blvd. and Sherwood Ave.

    Terraced Rain Garden

    600-square-foot tiered rain garden along a highly eroded streambank on Wildwood Blvd. between Marengo St. and Beverly Dr.

    East Rain Garden

    2,540-square-foot rain garden and bioswale at the end of Wildwood Blvd. off River Rd.

    These improvements will help restore habitat and water quality in Delaware Creek, a tributary of the Maumee River in the Lake Erie basin. Projects will help fix some erosion problems and will reduce sediment, nutrient, and chemical loading from stormwater into local waterways.

    Prior to these improvements, Ohio EPA water quality sampling results in the creek show:

    • Significant sedimentation/siltation
    • Excessive nitrate/nitrite and phosphorus
    • Elevated levels of pesticides, chloride and total dissolved solids

    Ohio EPA biological sampling results in the creek show:

    • Above target for fish communities
    • Below target for invertebrate communities
      • “Very poor” narrative score
      • Estimated 20% of the target goal
    • Below target for aquatic habitat quality
      • 74% of the target goal
      • Decreased 4.5 points between 2006 and 2017 Ohio EPA sampling events

    About the Project

    This project was financed in part through a grant from the Ohio Lake Erie Commission and the United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) with Great Lakes Restoration Initiative funds. The contents and views, including any opinion, findings, or conclusions or recommendations contained in this product or publication are those of the authors and have not been subject to any Ohio Lake Erie Commission or U.S. EPA peer or administrative review and may not necessarily reflect the views of the Ohio Lake Erie Commission or the U.S. EPA and no official endorsement should be inferred.