North Branch Nippersink Creek Watershed ~ A Resource to Protect  

by Cindy Skrukrud

A report highlighting protection needs for the high quality North Branch of Nippersink Creek is the latest Defenders' effort to preserve unique resources within McHenry County in the face of development pressures. The report, North Branch Nippersink Creek Watershed - A Resource to Protect, identifies the areas within the North Branch watershed which are predicted to experience the most population growth over the next 25 years and recommends actions needed to maintain the quality of the creek. The report will be presented to municipal officials whose decisions now and in coming years will determine the fate of the creek.

Funded by a grant from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources Conservation 2000 program, the report fulfills two key recommendations of the September 1998 Nippersink Creek Watershed Plan which called for the establishment of minimum buffer zones along the creek to protect its quality habitat and the preservation of recognized important high quality wetlands for habitat which line the creek corridor. A score of natural resource experts from the county worked together to compile the natural resource information necessary to recommend areas that should become part of community 'Green Zones', priority areas for community parks and natural areas.

Population projections indicate two areas within the watershed that are under the greatest pressure from new development. These include a corridor of land on both sides of Route 12 as it runs from the Wisconsin border through the Village of Richmond and south along Route 31 to the West Solon Road intersection. The second area lies to the east of Lake Elizabeth, a designated Illinois Nature Preserve. This area of natural springs supports communities of rare sedge meadows and is projected to experience development from the Village of Spring Grove. In the report, color maps, produced by the McHenry County Soil & Water Conservation District clearly show land recommended for protection in these areas as well as locations of hydric soils unsuitable for building sites.

Besides the community Green Zone recommendation, the report also recommends that communities follow principles of conservation development in the design of new developments within the watershed. With careful design and sufficient land provided within developments for stormwater control; polluted water running off new roads, driveways, and parking lots can be cleaned up before it reaches the North Branch of Nippersink Creek.

While the report's findings clearly show the need for the villages of Richmond and Spring Grove to plan developments in the coming years with the protection of the North Branch of Nippersink Creek and Lake Elizabeth foremost in their thoughts, the report recommends that all communities in the watershed adopt conservation design measures to help maintain the quality of the North Branch. Plans are to present the report to the villages of Richmond, Spring Grove, and Hebron as well as to township and county government official later this summer.