Love Your Creeks
By Sally Adkins, Clean Water Partnership Program Coordinator, City of Gainesville Public Works

Feeling overwhelmed by the fast pace of life? Tired of traffic and your computer? How about trying a little bit of Gainesville's natural medicine to relieve your stress? Instead of unwinding on the couch in front of the television, spend some time with your loved ones exploring one of Gainesville’s many beautiful creeks.

Did you know the history of Gainesville is fundamentally tied to our abundant water resources? Our city’s founding as the central county seat was partly based on the political power of several landowners in the area who made their fortunes taking advantage of the rich floodplains of the creeks that allowed the growth of successful agricultural areas. And where would our town be now without the University? A major factor in the placement of the University of Florida was a promise by a City delegation (including William Thomas – original occupant of what is now the Thomas Center) of a free unlimited water supply for the University. A Tampa Tribune editorial at the time commented that Gainesville possessed “everything desirable for the maintenance of the University… school spirit, good water, a healthful climate, good buildings, and is a town without a saloon or a disorderly house, with a standard of morality that makes it an ideal college town.” Well, a few things have changed, but our creeks remain as one of the most attractive assets of our beautiful city.

Gainesville’s creeks meander past our homes, businesses, schools, places of worship, parks, and roads. You might have noticed recently placed signs spelling out their names as you drive along 8th Avenue, or roll past the Matheson Museum. The creeks are our wildlife corridors and parks. They are natural refuges from the traffic and the bustle of our busy lives. They are our water-paths to natural Florida where you can always find a little trickle of magic.

In practical terms, they are essential conduits for stormwater. If the vegetated banks of the creeks (called riparian buffers) are intact, they filter a large percentage of the pollutants contained in stormwater. Our creeks are beautiful, but they are also functional mechanisms of the Gainesville community. If you have played in the creeks, hiked in them, hunted sharks teeth and ancient manatee bones in them, spied otters playing on their banks, seen crawfish scrabbling beneath their ripples, or hovering dragonflies and butterflies on their sand bars, you know that they are an important part of Gainesville’s character and charm. If you have missed these delights, it is time to explore and experience Gainesville’s creek world. You’ll discover some surprising rewards.

So, you ask, where exactly are these creeks? Where do they come from and where do they go? A fair question - these creeks pass through so many properties, private and public, it is hard to get a good geographical perspective of where they flow to and from just by wandering our city’s streets. To help you discover, we've put a map on this website to show a basic layout of our city’s creeks. Many of the western creeks drain into the Hogtown watershed, which eventually drains into the Floridan Aquifer through Haile Sink. All of our creeks, one way or another, make their way to the aquifer - where we get our drinking water.

The fact that the creeks eventually make their way into the giant “well” from which we draw our drinking water supply is a good reason, among many, to protect them. Are they in danger? Increased impervious area and decreased riparian buffers lead to more runoff going into the creeks during storm events. Runoff carries pollutants from yards and driveways like automobile fluids and wastes, detergents, fertilizers, pesticides, household chemicals, pet wastes, and plain trash, right down the stormdrains, right into the creeks. Even organic yard wastes – leaves, cuttings and landscape detritus - can overload the creek system. If you ever wondered where those storm drains actually drain to, the creeks are your answer. In an active city such as ours, the runoff can carry considerable pollution into our treasured waterways, and it does.

So what can we do about it? Luna Leopold, a renowned earth scientist, said, “Water is the most critical resource issue of our lifetime and our children’s lifetime. The health of our waters is the principal measure of how we live on the land.” So we can help our creeks - our water treasures - by giving some thought to the way we live on our land. With a modest effort, we can treat our treasures consciously and responsibly: keep pollutants off the streets; change our oil and dispose of it sensibly, keep up the maintenance on our vehicles to prevent leaks, use pesticides and fertilizers minimally if at all, dispose of pet waste hygieneically, and put trash where it belongs – give a hoot!

If you are lucky enough to live on a creek, you can maintain a healthy riparian buffer with native landscaping to effectively filter pollutants from the roadways. You can sign up for a creek cleanup with Adopt-A-River, or participate in our Watershed Action Volunteer program teaching kids about watersheds, or learn to landscape a Florida Friendly Yard (see below for more information). All of these efforts will help to protect our creeks from pollution.

Alachua County passed a new Water Quality Ordinance last year that also strives to protect the health of our waterways. The ordinance makes it illegal to dispose of anything but rainwater down a stormdrain. If you observe any activities that you consider to be “creek crime” such as the disposal of non-stormwater substances in a stormdrain or creek, you can call the Illicit Discharge Hotline at 264-6800. An inspector will investigate in response to your call.

Problems aside, Gainesville is blessed with a sparkling network of beautiful creeks, ponds, springs and sinks. We can take pride in and enjoy these resources. So take your sweetheart for a walk along the creek. No sweetheart? Take a walk by yourself. Enjoy the birds, butterflies, pines and palms. Feel the magic of wild Florida, right in your own back yard.