EPA and McConnell Springs

Last week, I took the home school biology class to McConnell Springs here locally for a field trip to further learn about their new wetlands program. I learned and was reminded of some important things while I was there. First a quick sidetrack for those who don't live here in Lexington. McConnell Springs is where the charter to establish Lexington was drawn up in late 1700's. Several years ago, it had turned into an illegal land fill and was about ready to be bought and paved over for more warehouse space. A group of citizens organized, bought the property and started to clean it up. It is now a forested habitat in the middle of an industrial area here in Lexington.

Now, fast forward a few years. Per our guide last Tuesday, Lexington is the only city in the nation to be sued by the EPA and lose over our lack of clean water. The fines the city paid were put in a fund and used for water quality improvement projects here in Lexington. That is where the funding for the wetlands project came from. The people at McConnell Springs built a wetland that replicates what a natural wetland would do. It drains a large area of two streets and surrounding homes and businesses in that area. The water comes in polluted and after running the course of the wetland far exceeds the EPA requirement for clean water.

One thing we learned from all of this was that the amount of fertilizer running off of people's lawns is causing algae blooms and other water hazards in our water system. Fertilizer run-off contains nitrogen and phosphates. Algae thrives on this, prospers, making it out of balance with other systems and can actually kill the fish in the waterway.

Two, we have over several decades straightened out many of our rivers and waterways in order to make them easier to navigate. Unfortunately, rivers and waterways "meander" for a reason. It slows down the water causing less erosion and flooding. The wetland at McConnell Springs was specifically designed to recreate this natural meandering to slow down the water and let it filter better through the wetland.

The best thing of all is that a new habitat has been established which supports local populations of animals and plants. They are replanting the area around the pond in native grasses and wetland plants. This has attracted native wildlife to the area. It was neat to see damsel flies and dragonflies dancing around the pond. It brought back pleasant memories of when we used to see them around my grandparent's lake cottage when I was growing up.

If you live or are visiting in the Lexington area, stop by, check out the project and then take a leisurely stroll around the walking trails there. This is a project and park that Lexington can be proud of these days.