Planning and other key documents |
GILLS CREEK WATERSHED MANAGEMENT PLANGills Creek Watershed Management Plan Update - 2020 Prepared for Gills Creek Watershed Association by McCormick Taylor through a grant from Richland County Conservation Commission. Presented June 2020. (Adobe PDF - File Size: 24.6 MB) The 2009 Gills Creek Watershed Management Plan, originally prepared by Tetra Tech and BP Barber, was updated in order to reflect changes in the watershed’s condition over the last ten years and to provide a more explicit listing of projects within the Gills Creek Watershed, along with predicted costs and expected results. Public input allowed pollutant “hotspots” within the watershed to be identified, helping to guide many of the specific projects within this plan. The report provided herein addresses EPA's nine required elements of watershed-based plans, including information such as: pollutant causes, sources, and amounts; current and predicted future development conditions; flooding concerns; best management practices; community engagement; and a schedule for implementing the plan, as well as measures of its success. This updated plan will provide myriad options not only for GCWA, but for local governments and others in the watershed. It is meant to be a living document, adjusted as needed to reflect watershed conditions and accommodate new threats, opportunities, and community concerns. Click below to see the original 2009 Watershed Management Plan. Gills Creek WMP Executive Summary - 2009 GILLS CREEK MIDDLE WATERSHED PLANFollowing development of the Gills Creek Watershed Management Plan, a more specific plan focusing on the Middle Watershed was prepared in 2013 by Wood+Partners Inc. and McCormick Taylor, with support from Richland County. DEVIL'S DITCH ASSESSMENT 2024-2025This project was funded by a City of Columbia - Youth Climate Action Fund mini grant. The City of Columbia’s Shandon Phase II Stormwater Improvements Project has significantly increased total volume, flow variability, and force of water exiting the system outfall and ultimately flowing into “Devil’s Ditch,” a tributary of Gill’s Creek. Running through and often underneath large portions of the Shandon Neighborhood, we know relatively little about habitats and biodiversity present in this urban stream or how these might change with the implementation of the Shandon stormwater project. To fill this gap, with the Bloomberg Youth Climate Action fund’s support our team has worked to collect valuable baseline data on the biotic, chemical, and physical conditions of Devil’s Ditch and a nearby, similarly channelized reference stream running through W. Gordon Belser Arboretum. By establishing detailed baseline data at both these sites, we’ll be prepared to more fully characterize the changes likely to occur in Devil’s Ditch stream after the stormwater infrastructure improvements are put in place.
Besides biotic changes, our team has also worked to capture physical and chemical changes in our stream sites as well. One of our team’s major concerns with the alterations of water velocity at our site is sedimentation. GCWA Devil's Ditch Stormwater Impacts and Mitigation Strategies 2025 Strategies Posters and Complete Writing ADDITIONAL REPORTSEPA Environmental Justice Small Grant Fish Study Managing Stormwater Detention Compounds for the Layman Managing Stormwater Detention Compounds for the Layman - Inspection Checklist HISTORIC PLANNING DOCUMENTSPlanning for better management of the Gills Creek Watershed began in the mid-1900's with a report prepared by the Department of Health and Environmental Control. However, thinking about improving the watershed began even earlier, with a report prepared at the turn of the last century. The Gills Creek Watershed Project: An Urban Nonpoint Source Project (1996) The Improvement of Columbia South Carolina, Kelsey and Guild (1906) GILLS CREEK WATERSHED ASSOCIATION STRATEGIC PLANA streamlined Strategic Plan was approved by the GCWA Board in May, 2019. It will be augmented with specific annual plans on a continuing basis. The plan builds on principles established through an earlier plan developed with input of community stakeholders, volunteers, board members, and staff, facilitated by the River Network. It has been updated annually since then. Gills Creek Watershed Association Strategic Plan |