Oak Creek Watershed Council
Protecting one of Arizona’s greatest treasures – and the habitat it supports
The Oak Creek Watershed Council is a 501(c)(3) non-profit dedicated to preserving the health and integrity of Oak Creek. Oak Creek is a perennial, spring-fed stream that stretches fifty miles from its headwaters in Oak Creek Canyon, and flows through Sedona, Page Springs, and Cornville to its confluence with the Verde River. As one of the last free-running streams in Arizona, Oak Creek is a precious jewel of riparian habitat in the desert Southwest, where human activity has destroyed over 90% of all rivers and streams.
With increased tourism and visitation, Oak Creek’s unique riparian ecosystem is being challenged like never before. Sedona alone gets an estimated three million visitors per year, and many of those visitors naturally want to be in or around Oak Creek. It’s simply beautiful, and a great place to be – particularly in warm weather. Sadly, the result is massive increases to littering, wildlife disruption, habitat degradation, and microbial contamination. Oak Creek is being loved to death.
Oak Creek Watershed Council works to mitigate that through stewardship engagement; partnering with local agencies and interest groups; outreach and education; and scientific monitoring.
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Our Mission
Maintaining a standard of excellence for watershed stewardship and preserving the integrity of Oak Creek.
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Happy Wildlife Wednesday! Last week we met a beautiful gopher snake while out collecting water samples. Gopher snakes are a generalist species, which means they survive and thrive in a wide variety of habitats. This has made them one of the most widespread reptile species in North America! Often mistaken at first glance for a rattlesnake, these snakes are non-venomous and do not pose a serious threat to hikers or dogs. As with all wildlife, admire them from a distance and remember that this is their home!
Did you know that urban pollution has significant impacts on our waterways? This is true in Sedona and Oak Creek, too.
In urban and suburban areas, a lot of the land surface is covered by buildings and pavement, which prevents rain and snowmelt from soaking into the ground. Most developed areas rely on storm drains to carry runoff from roofs and paved areas to nearby waterways. But, the stormwater runoff carries pollutants such as oil, dirt, chemicals, and lawn fertilizers directly to streams and rivers, where they seriously harm water quality. To protect surface water quality and groundwater resources, development should be designed and built to minimize increases in runoff.
#cityofsedona #oakcreek #keepoakcreekclean #waterpollution #stormwater
#runoff
Many thanks to our friends at Northern Arizona Audubon Society for helping with our inaugural “plirding” outing! We picked up 12.6 pounds of litter while enjoying over two dozen species of local and migratory birds. #birding #littercleanup #keepoakcreekclean #keepoakcreekbeautiful
We’re all set up to celebrate #EarthDay2023 with all of our outdoorsy, environmental pals, including our hosts, @azstateparks
Thank you volunteers! This morning these amazing people called over 80 pounds of litter from the roadside of 89A north of Sedona 😍.
It’s highway cleanup time! OCWC stewards a two-mile stretch of Highway 89A between Sedona and Flagstaff (mile markers 392-394, to be exact). Today we’ll leave it better than we found it, thanks to the efforts of our hardworking volunteers. 😎☀️ #volunteers #littercleanup #cleanandbeautiful #safetyfirst @arizona_dot
In just a few hours today, these amazing volunteers from #SedonaWomen removed 41.6 pounds of trash from the Oak Creek watershed! Among the items collected were articles of clothing, a walkie-talkie, a lost Croc sandal, bottles and cans, and plenty of microtrash and food waste. We focused our efforts at Indian Gardens, Grasshopper Point, Encinoso Picnic Area, the Manzanita day use pullout, and the associated creek accesses at each location. Thank you volunteers for helping to preserve the health and integrity of Oak Creek.
It’s litter cleanup day in Oak Creek Canyon! Many thanks to our wonderful volunteers from the community group, #SedonaWomen. #keepoakcreekclean #leavenotrace
Did you know as few as 25 passes can be enough to create a new trail? In a busy place like Oak Creek, that can happen quickly. New trails can disrupt wildlife's habitat, damage plantlife, and increase erosion which results in a less healthy creek system. We can all #KeepOakCreekClean by sticking to trails and roadways.
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#SedonaCares #AppreciateAZ #LeaveNoTraceSedona #SustainableSedona
#StickToTrails🥾
Thanks so much to the members of the NAU SAFE club for coming out to Sunset Park and Carroll Canyon yesterday morning to help us pick up trash! Together we removed 68.55lbs of trash from the watershed to help #KeepOakCreekClean ! Some major items we picked up were rusty metal pieces, dog balls, glass, styrofoam, and plastic bottles, bags, & wrappers. Let’s keep the cleanup momentum going into the busy summer creek season! 🚮🗑️🌱💦
Thanks to everyone that supported Oak Creek Watershed Council during this week’s Arizona Gives Day!
Unrestricted contributions fuel the watershed council’s growth and ability to engage creek users throughout the year. We have big-time aspirations beyond our funded projects to keep Oak Creek free of litter and pet waste. Your continued support will help turn our dreams of educating, advocating, and building a strong network of Oak Creek Caretakers into a reality.
If you didn’t get a chance to donate on Tuesday, you can always make a gift through our website! Link in bio.
#AZGivesDay #OakCreekCaretakers #KeepOakCreekClean #Sedona #OakCreek
Did you know as few as 25 passes can be enough to create a new trail? In a busy place like Oak Creek, that can happen quickly. New trails can disrupt wildlife's habitat, damage plantlife, and increase erosion which results in a less healthy creek system. We can all #KeepOakCreekClean by sticking to trails and roadways.
#SedonaCares #AppreciateAZ #LeaveNoTraceSedona #SustainableSedona
Thank you to our wonderful Bookmans volunteers for coming down to Oak Creek Canyon this morning to pick up trash! Together we removed about 50lbs of trash from the watershed by picking up at pullouts along 89A. What a beautiful day to hang out and #KeepOakCreekClean 🌱 Great work Bookmans crew! 💪🏼
Neotropical birds like Painted Redstarts (pic 1) and Red-faced Warblers (pic 2) are species that return to Oak Creek Canyon every spring to breed and raise young. A gift on #AZGivesDay supports growing partnerships like the one between #OakCreekWatershedCouncil and @nazaudubon, which raises awareness for the connection between biodiversity and watershed health.
Register today to join OCWC staff and members of the birding community on Sunday, April 23, for a combined #birding and litter clean-up event! Link in bio. 😎🐦🦅🦆
Thanks to the generosity of three #OakCreekCaretakers, we're already more than 20% of the way towards reaching our fundraising goal for #AZGiveDay. Your contributions during this statewide day of giving will ensure that we continue to be engaged in monitoring the health and integrity of Oak Creek!
📷: OCWC Technicians, Nate and Cassidy, work with partners from @azdeqgov to prepare water samples for E. coli testing, summer 2022.
TOMORROW, April 4, is #AZGivesDay and we're asking all of our faithful followers and watershed warriors here on Insta to consider making a gift in support of a #cleanandbeautiful Oak Creek. Donate via the link in our bio.
La basura dura más de lo que piensas. Una cáscara de naranja puede durar hasta 2 años, mientras que una lata de aluminio dura entre 80 y 100 años, y el plástico nunca desaparece por completo. Haz tu parte para mantener limpio Oak Creek (#KeepOakCreekClean) empacando la basura cada vez que visites la cuenca.
¿Quieres dar un paso más? Únase a un evento de voluntariado local de #AZ o traiga una bolsa y recoja la basura que encuentre para no dejar rastro (#LeaveNoTrace).
Obtenga más información e involúcrese en: bit.ly/OakCreekCaretaker
#CuidaElAmbiente #SedonaCares #AppreciateAZ #LeaveNoTraceSedona #SustainableSedona
Thanks so much to the 20+ volunteers who came out to Oak Creek today to help Oak Creek Watershed Council pick up trash! We cleaned up below Cave Springs campground, below Manzanita campground, at Encinoso Day Use Area, and at Indian Gardens cafe. Together we picked up 100 pounds of trash including a tire, a piece of rusty metal, 2 diapers, some glass, 2 dog poops, plastics, and food trash. Most of this was washed onto the banks by the recent flooding of Oak Creek. Big shout out to the NAU Green Jacks club for volunteering their Saturday morning to help #KeepOakCreekClean ! #sedona #oakcreek #leavenotrace #pickupyourtrash #volunteers #watershedmanagement
