Starker Arts Park Wetland Rehabilitation

Starker Arts Park Wetland Rehabilitation 

On the sunny Saturday of October 26th, about 85 people gathered between 1 and 4 pm to get their hands dirty, learn about one of our community areas environmental struggles, and put in some volunteer time to rehabilitate the Starker Arts Wetland. 

Why not “restoring”?

"Restore means to return something to the way it was. The truth is we don’t know the way it was. . . To regenerate is to generate life. To rehabilitate is to raise something up; to resurrect things.“-Dave Eckert sets the ground during the introduction to our day.

(from left) Dave Eckert- Corvallis Sustainability Coalition-Water Action Team, Annette Mills- Corvallis Sustainability Coalition, Kathleen Wesly - Marys River Watershed Council

Dave and Kathleen discuss how this particular area has been impacted and managed by humans for at least 16000 years, and that part of why restoration can be difficult is because of the time frame. Depending on which point in time you go to you, the restoration will be different. Human impact is important, especially because as we like to manage things, and this management changes natural environments so significantly that much of the time it is hard to, or takes much longer, to rehabilitate an area to its original structure. 

Cat Newsheller- Recently began volunteering on the projects and is a certified interpretive guide. She is also an Oregon Naturalist graduate.

What has been occurring in Starker Arts Park is that the pond, with ducks, has been carrying the runoff containing extra Nitrogen and Phosphorous from the duck waste,into the Denewi Creek running through the park. The extra amount of nutrients results in a process called Eutrophication, where the algae that feeds off the nutrients, grows exponentially, goes through natural life cycles of life and death, leaving the decaying algae at the bottom of the creek to be decomposed. As with any respiration activity, decomposition occurs by the bacteria within the Denewi Creek, using up more oxygen than normal, eventually leading to a less than hospitable place for previous plants and animals of the ecosystem. (The pond is currently under construction to help re-balance the output of water). 

How is the wetland rehabilitation going to help with the Creek water? 

The wetland will be acting as a filtration system between the pond and the creek. 

The wetlands physical set up is like a mini version of vast rolling hills and valleys, originating from the output pipes of the pond. The swales (valleys) go out in all directions from the output point which will help evenly spread out the water, creating a wetland. 

Previous to construction on the pond and the wetland area it was filled with primarily invasive exotic plants. Dave gave us some back story after explaining the water changes regarding what the outcome of the wetland area was:

“We dug them up, saved the natives, didn’t save the exotic. Before we put down the jute (the covering) we put down a lot of Camis seeds which is a critical,cultural and nutritional plant to the Calapooia, and a whole bunch of other flowering plants that work in wet areas.And then we have a berm, which is a cultural feature, which on another day we will plant large shrubs -all native, all many different species and very beneficial for pollinators and other species including humans.Red flowering Currant, Elderberry, Espiria, Snowberry. . .”

Jim Boyle- Long time, experienced volunteer who recently was working on the Denewi Creek route rehabilitation on Bald Hill 

There were a number of different groups who attended the event including Corvallis Youth Corps, different clubs from Oregon State Environmental Science Club,Members of the Corvallis Watershed Council,the City of Corvallis and a handful from the general public.

Lynne Warwick- Working with the city for 2 years

In an upcoming volunteer project on Saturday, November 9th at Bald Hill in Corvallis, Dave says that they will be focusing on returning Denewi Creek to its original course. Over the years of people managing the land for agriculture and living, the original creeks movement was buried and changed entirely. Denewi is a Calapooia word meaning “Elderly, Wise Woman”. The Calapooia tribe were the first people to settle in the Willamette Valley.