Creek Work Explained At Waterville Meeting

Trees removed along the creekbed along the downtown Waterville public

parking lot will be repurposed to prevent flooding.

Jo-Anne Humphreys, stream restoration designer with Trout Unlimited, gave an informative presentation at last week’s Waterville Village Board meeting.

Humphreys, who lives in Deansboro, was asked by DPW Superintendent Jamie Bechy to explain the process after some residents raised concerns about the work over the weekend.

Humphreys has been working with the Village to redesign the flow of Big Creek to prevent flooding and erosion.

The section near the old Firemen’s Pavilion is the latest to be undertaken by Oneida County.

In 2020, she walked the creek from the bridge near Stewart’s Shops to Deansboro, mapping out the creek and details on the current.

That information is being used to make improvements.

The Big Creek water shed covers 19 acres and is part of the larger Mohawk River water shed.

Problem areas, Humphreys said, with the flow of Big Creek are at Osborn Avenue and the White Street railroad crossing.

The culverts there, she said, are much smaller than the width of the creek leading up to them.

Straight channels of water run faster and deeper than do creeks with S-curves.

Along Route 315 the creek is eroding both banks.

After the 2019 Halloween flood, Bechy pulled together a group to address the flooding along Big Creek.

Humphreys said the plan is to start upstream and ...