Photo by Kamp Fender.
Cahaba Riverkeeper’s David Butler began a study over the summer through a series of water testing surveys to identify which banks along the Cahaba River have the greatest need for restoration.
Without a healthy habitat and ecosystem to live in, the native plants and creatures that make the Cahaba River so unique even after thousands of years, Cahaba Riverkeeper David Butler said, die off and disappear.
That’s why Butler began a study over the summer through a series of water testing surveys to identify which banks along the Cahaba River have the greatest need for restoration.
He said the data collected will identify which areas should be restored first and are a piece of a larger project to create an online map of the river.
Butler is hoping for the beginnings of the map to be released by the end of the year.
“One of the big problems for the Cahaba River is there isn't a lot of data on it already. That’s why we've taken this project to sort of measure and monitor the watershed and the impact and the things we believe are important,” Butler said.
Areas in Vestavia include Patton Creek, North Shades Creek, Shades Creek and a few other smaller banks. The banks need to be restored due to erosion and stormwater drainage problems, he said, which has been an ongoing discussion by city officials, locals and advocates “to slow down and prevent from getting worse.”
“The hydraulics of the river has changed in the last 20 years. We have no idea what those culminations of impacts have been, so part of what we want to do is determine what to do with those areas,” Butler said. “Part of the goal is to find the areas that have been most significantly impacted and then work from there and see if there's probably a part of the restoration that we can do to slow down or stop the erosion.”
Photo by Kamp Fender
The primary pollutant of the Cahaba River is the sediment, he said, and the study will give them a comprehensive look at the river and what the damage means. So far in the study, they know some of that sediment comes from construction activities.
Butler said he isn’t sure how long the study will take, but they have started with the upper part of the river and will be working their way down to the lower part. The survey will most likely continue through next year, he said, since no studies of this scale have been done before.
“People can go out and survey with us. A lot of the people who live by Little Shades Creek and stuff can certainly help us monitor the creek just at the place where they live,” Butler said. “There’s a lot of different ways they can help but most importantly is just to have as many eyes and measurements and looks at the river we can get always helps.”
The study is funded by grants and individual donors, Butler said. The easiest way to stay up to date on this project is through their Facebook page at @cahabariverkeeper.
