BATAVIA — The Clermont County Office of Environmental Quality (OEQ) will hold a public meeting at 5:30 p.m. today to present a plan to protect the Shayler Creek watershed of the East Fork of the Little Miami River.

        It's the first in a series of meetings OEQ will conduct to explain what can be done to protect the East Fork watershed.

        The meeting will take place at the Union Township Hall on Glen Este-Withamsville Road.

        OEQ is developing a management plan for the watershed of the East Fork — of which Shayler Creek is part — that encompasses about 500 square miles in four counties, Clermont, Brown, Highland and Clinton. Shayler Creek makes up close to 13 square miles of that watershed, and is located in Union, Pierce and Batavia townships.

        Shayler Creek is one of 12 portions — or sub-watersheds — of the East Fork that is being monitored by OEQ. They are determining water quality, stream erosion, source of pollutants and offering recommendations for improvement.

        “It's not too bad,” said Paul Braasch, OEQ director, of the Shayler Creek watershed. “One of the biggest problems in Shayler is flow. Because of impervious surfaces we see increased flow, which causes increased erosion.”

        While about 43 percent of the Shayler watershed is forested, 20 percent of it has light to dense development. That translates to about 10.4 percent of the watershed being impervious — meaning roads, driveways, parking lots, sidewalks and rooftops don't allow rainwater to infiltrate the soil. That carries pollutants from those surfaces and makes for faster-running streams and more erosion.

        U.S. EPA guidelines rank watersheds having 10 percent to 25 percent impervious surface as impacted or degraded.

        “When it gets above that (10.4 percent), it starts impacting water quality pretty drastically,” said Mr. Braasch. “It's important because it's one of the major bases of our lives. Having clean water is very important to our health. It's important to the community values. Nobody wants to roam around unhealthy streams. ”

        Mr. Braasch said a number of recommendations will be talked about tonight, including enforcement of storm-water regulations, encouraging developers to use low impact designs, setting aside more land as greenspace, instituting regular street sweeping, improving public transportation, restoring riparian corridors and installing natural buffers along crop fields bordering streams.

        “We're looking for input from people,” said Mr. Braasch. “We're asking, is this the right direction? Is this important to you?”

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