Your Creek

Connecting Communities to their Creek

Love Creek upstream from the Rt. 24 bridge.

There is water everywhere here. Of course, the Atlantic Ocean…the big water, but walk west from the beach and you are soon in sight and sound of the coastal lagoons known as the Inland Bays. Cross those Bays and travel west, up the rivers and creeks and you will pass through saltmarshes until you reach the ‘head of tide,’ where the influence of the salty tides ends, and creeks are fresh.

Along the way, sometimes in plain sight, there are vernal pools and rare fens, and the remnants of Delmarva Bays. Further inland, there are millponds aplenty, many from the 1700’s where rivers and creeks were dammed to create power for sawmills and grist mills. If you could find your way to the headwaters, you might find yourself in a forested wetland, in a wild place of springs and seeps, or in the granddaddy of all swamps in these parts, the Great Cypress Swamp…source of the headwaters of Vines Creek and Pepper Creek.

Your Creek is a multi-year project that will focus on the major rivers and creeks that flow into the three Inland Bays…to connect communities to their creek.

The work will highlight the values of each creek, the potential threats to those values, and what residents can do to help.  Each Creek will have a Creek Team. Residents and homeowners will be welcomed and needed on the Teams.  Love Creek on Rehoboth Bay is our ‘pilot’ creek for the program. The Dirickson Creek Team on Little Assawoman Bay began work in November 2014.

CIB Staff working with the Your Creek teams will work on the following:

1. Conduct surveys of residents to gather information on the concerns, opinions, and understanding of local creeks by residents and property owners in each sub-watershed
2. Develop indicators for each creek based on data available and citizen interests and concerns
3. Assist with outreach events and distribution of information into each Your Creek community to educate, inform and involve residents.
4. Plan paddle trips to introduce Teams and interested residents to the Creeks.