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City Joins Conservation Groups In Water Clean-up Project
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Mayor Wilson with Prescott Creeks' Michael Byrd at the work site
Prescott Creeks, a local conservation group, has a goal—clean up Watson Lake and Watson Woods Creek so they meet standards set by the federal government's Clean Water Act. The result? The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality can remove them from its "impaired waters" list.
In a combined effort to reduce sediment and contaminant problems, the City of Prescott, Prescott Creeks, ADEQ, private construction companies, and a host of volunteers have toiled together to repair outflow channels near the intersection of Prescott Lakes Parkway and Sundog Ranch Road.
"This project was a statewide-model for how 319 funds should be used," said Arizona Department of Environmental Quality's Matthew Capalby. "It will help to abate silt flowing into Granite Creek and Watson Lake and it will also improve the impaired water quality of both."
The "319" funds referred to by Capalby flow from the E.P.A. to ADEQ's Water Quality Improvement Grant Program. The program "strives to fund projects that implement sufficient, economically and scientifically sound management practices that result in quantifiable improvements to surface water quality."
"The City has been very enthusiastic about partnering on this project and we hope to have it completed sometime in April," said Tim Legler, Field Operations Superintendent for the City of Prescott.
According to Prescott Creeks Executive Director Michael Byrd, the project's design has been in the works for two years. He noted that the end result will bolster the health of riparian habitats at the preserve and feature interpretive signage for hikers and joggers on the Peavine Trail.