Archives
Welcome! Virtually view our educational brochure. Learn more about the issues that are threatening the health of the watershed and how you can help! Created by tmsr Design Delivery in collaboration with Oak Creek Watershed Council and Arizona Department of Environmental Quality. This brochure was funded by grants from ADEQ and EPA.
We encourage you to #KnowBeforeYouGo and to #RecreateResponsibly. Please visit the Leave No Trace Center’s website to learn more by clicking here. Additionally, learn about the 7 Leave No Trace principles straight from the Leave No Trace Center’s website! Click here.
Thanks to our volunteer cleanup efforts since 2019, there have been 3,105 pounds of trash removed from the watershed. Litter is not only an eye-sore, but it contributes to habitat and water quality degradation. Over the course of a year, we have educated over 1000 people and recruited over 240 volunteers, totaling 1,080 volunteer hours. We also recruited many volunteers…
Sunday, August 18th, 2019 Flagstaff, Arizona Need a pick me up? Come out to “Pickin’ Up in the Pines” a collaborative watershed clean-up event with the United States Forest Service, Dark Sky Brewing Company, REI Co-Op, and Oak Creek Watershed Council. For more information and to RSVP to this free event go to https://www.rei.com/events/93311/pickin-up-in-the-pines as space is limited!
Monday, September 2nd, 2019 Red Rock Crossing, Village of Oak Creek This Labor Day Weekend volunteers can meet Oak Creek Watershed Council at the Baldwin Trail parking lot at the end of Verde Valley School Road in the Village of Oak Creek. We will meet at 8:30 a.m. and have a safety talk. Then, we will distribute cleaning supplies and…
2015 OCWC invites the local watershed community to participate in an exciting Workshop in April or May to learn low-cost ways to improve your landscape and help keep Oak Creek clean! Help clean the watershed by landscaping your yard to help spread and sink stormwater that could carry sediment including bacteria that pollutes Oak Creek. Community Workshops This is a…
The reports that follow are on the Settlers Rest Stormwater Pilot Project that were held in April and May 2015 to teach the local watershed community low-cost ways to improve their landscape and help keep Oak Creek clean. May and June Clean Water Workshops The May and June Clean Water Workshops at the Unity of Sedona project site were incredibly productive. Working and learning…
Friends of Oak Creek are the core volunteer force of the Oak Creek Watershed Council. They are the heart of all our work around the Oak Creek area. If you are looking for a closer connection to your community and the environment, the Friends of Oak Creek are for you! Friends of Oak Creek orchestrate creek and trailhead cleanups, make…
The Oak Creek Watershed Council (OCWC), formerly the Oak Creek Canyon Task Force, was organized in 1994 by the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) as an informal watershed group and evolved into a community-driven non-profit 501 (c) (3) organization on September 11, 2003. To follow is a listing of the significant accomplishments of the Council. Accomplishments 2002 Watershed Based…
Expansion and diversification of responsibilities August 22, 2013 | PDF version HERE Overview The Oak Creek Watershed is within the Colorado River Basin and part of the Verde River Watershed. It is approximately 300,000 acres or about 464 square miles. Its main watercourse is Oak Creek which is about 50 miles long and is also the largest tributary of the Verde…
Posted June 18, 2013 The Oak Creek Watershed Council (OCWC) has completed the final version of the Oak Creek Watershed Improvement Plan (OCWIP) and it has been approved by the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality. The OCWIP is a “living” document, however, and your comments, questions, or recommendations are always welcome by sending the OCWC an email (info@oakcreekwatershed.org) or by mail at:…
Posted June 18, 2013 For your convenience, downloads related to the Oak Creek Watershed Improvement Plan (OCWIP) can be found in this article. OCWIP – Complete Download HERE Oak Creek E. coli TMDL HERE Grant Overview HERE Additional Documentation Watershed Improvement Plan Grant Manual 2008 HERE Watershed Improvement Plan Technical Guide HERE RAM Survey Form – Nutrients HERE Oak Creek Watershed Map – ADEQ HERE Oak Creek Watershed…
Encouraging Active and Broad Citizen Participation Our preferred method of encouraging active and broad citizen participation in the Watershed Improvement Coalition is to identify landowners and/or business owners as well as other key stakeholders and to contact them directly. Information on landownership on Oak Creek is readily available on Yavapai County and Coconino County GIS websites, and the major landowner…
Tasks in Developing the WIC, WIP & BMP Implementation The planning process – from developing a Watershed Improvement Coalition, and subsequent smaller decision-making group, Watershed Improvement Committee (WIC) to developing a Watershed Improvement Plan (WIP) and the implementation best management practices (BMPs) mitigating for E. coli – requires multiples tasks. As an overview of the planning process, the tasks involved begin with…
The Water Quality Improvement Grant funds will be used to identify and mitigate sources of E. coli bacteria loading within the Oak Creek watershed so that this pollutant can be removed from Arizona’s “impaired” waters list. This will be accomplished in two phases. Phase I is a year-long process that begins with the primary objective of developing a watershed improvement coalition, a…
The Oak Creek watershed comprises approximately 300,000 acres in central Arizona and includes five major tributaries between the headwaters in Fry Canyon and the confluence with the Verde River south of Cornville. In spite of multiple efforts and funding during the last 20 years to identify and eliminate sources of fecal contamination to Oak Creek, impairment by the fecal coliform…
June 27, 2012PDF of this article HERE The Oak Creek Watershed, that is. Fifty miles of fresh water perpetually in motion, Oak Creek is the thread that weaves together the fabric of our watershed community, as well as being vital to its economic, recreational and natural future. Some think that the movement of water represents life itself, and has soothing,…
February 1, 2012 From: Barry Allan, Executive Director Dear Oak Creek Watershed Resident… Oak Creek is the 50-mile thread that weaves together the fabric of our watershed community, as well as being vital to its economic, recreational and natural future. The Oak Creek Watershed Council is committed to preserving the integrity of Oak Creek and recognizes that its stewardship must be…
The Keep Oak Creek Canyon Beautiful (KOCCB) pilot program was launched during the 2003 Labor Day weekend, and volunteers visited campgrounds and day-use areas giving away trash bags to visitors. A ten-ton dumpster was placed at Indian Gardens to encourage visitors to drop off their trash rather than leave it behind in the Canyon. The weekend was a great success,…
July 4, 2011 Dear Property Owner: As you are probably aware, Oak Creek has been classified by the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) as “impaired” because of a persistent problem with the fecal coliform Escherichia coli (E. coli). Persistence of E. coli in the watershed may result from multiple sources, and ADEQ has awarded our group a grant to identify those sources and…