The Daily Orange

Media Credit: Blair Dudik

Onondaga Creek needs help and the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry is answering the call.

The creek, previously used as a runoff for floodwater, is now being used for sewage and storm rain runoff. When Syracuse's sewage system floods with rain water, the overflow of water carries some sewage into the creek.

"People didn't pay attention to the creek. They treated it as a waste receptacle," said Richard Smardon, chair and professor of environmental science at ESF.

Smardon is heading the Onondaga Creek Working Group. The group is made up of area volunteers who analyze scientific information and public opinion to come up with solutions for the creek's current pollution problems.

The creek supplies 35 percent of the water that goes to Onondaga Lake. Efforts to clean up the creek will also help the ongoing lake cleanup, Smardon said.

The group helped create the Onondaga Creek Conceptual Revitalization Plan three years ago, when ESF hosted a conference to discuss what to do about the condition of the creek. It was decided that the project had to engage the community if it had any chance of working, said Sam Gordon, a project scientist at the Onondaga Environmental Institute.

"It's a revitalization plan. We aren't trying to restore it, we are going to enhance it," Smardon said.

The project is funded through federal, state and local grants, as well as private contributors, Gordon said.

The Onondaga Environmental Institute oversaw the group's planning process. The institute has partnered with ESF, the city of Syracuse, Cornell Cooperative Extension of Onondaga County, Canopy ? a group of environmental activists, and the Atlantic States Legal Foundation, to form and carry out the revitalization plan.

The plan is made up of 11 pilot programs that aim to revitalize the creek. The plan says that sections of the creek will be returned to as natural a condition as possible, while still serving as a runoff outlet to prevent flooding in the surrounding communities.

The creek was previously straightened to allow water to run directly into Onondaga Lake without meandering, which led to overflows at the creek's bends.

The group realizes that the current straight state of the creek provides flood protection to the surrounding communities. The group took this into account while writing up the plan, ensuring that the revitalization will not have negative effects on the creek's use in storm water management or flood control, Smardon said.

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