World O! Water

August 26th, 2009

The Cole Creek Project will be participating in this year’s World O! Water festival for kids and adults Sunday, Sept. 13. This free event will be held from noon to 4:00pm at the Papio-Missouri River Natural Resource District’s Natural Resources Center at Wehrspann Lake, 154th Street and Giles Road. It will feature music by Mike Mennard, prizes and drawings, demonstrations, canoeing, kid’s science experiments, water education, games, entertainment and free food (while supplies last). For more info, visit www.worldowater.com.

Tour Stop

July 17th, 2009

The bioretention gardens in Orchard Park will be featured in an upcoming tour of stormwater management projects in the metro.

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension Stormwater Work Group is sponsoring a Green Infrastructure for Stormwater Management Tour Friday, Aug. 7. The event, which kicks off at the Douglas/Sarpy Extension Office, 8015 W. Center Road, will run from 9:00am to 4:00pm. Registration begins at 8:30am.

The tour is open to landscape designers and contractors, master gardeners, University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension staff and anyone interested in the design/construction/maintenance of rain gardens, bioretention gardens, porous paving and other green infrastructure solutions to stormwater management.

For more information, contact Kelly Feehan at kfeehan2@unl.edu or 402.563.4901.

Mini-Grants Awarded

July 9th, 2009

Two neighborhood associations and one middle school in the Benson-Ames Alliance (B-AA) are the recipients of 2009 mini-grants from The Cole Creek Project.

The mini-grant program, part of the project’s community outreach component, has awarded $1,000.00 to three projects that address stormwater management or water conservation in the B-AA. They are:

Clairmont Heights Neighborhood Association
Rain Barrel Project

Nathan Hale Middle School
Hale Horticulture

Metcalfe-Harrison Neighborhood Association
Plant the Peanut

For details, visit the news section of www.colecreek.org.

Stream Restoration Phase Begins

July 7th, 2009

Work on returning the curve to Cole Creek is under way.

Last week, crews began work on the stream restoration phase of the project. This phase will restore the creek’s more natural flow, create pools and riffles to slow the flow of water, and create buffer strips along the banks to slow the flow of water over land before it reaches the creek.

The first step in the stream restoration phase is the removal of dense vegetation, including trees, from the creek’s banks. For each tree that is removed, three native trees will be planted. The goal is to create a diverse natural habitat that’s attractive to wildlife.

A total of 191 trees will be impacted by the project, so 573 native trees will be planted. A portion of the plantings will include native deciduous shrubs. In the places where shrubs are used, three shrubs will be planted in lieu of one tree.

The removal of the vegetation is expected to take about a week, weather permitting. Stop by and watch the project in action!

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