Six Mile Creek Watershed

Partnership Accomplishments:
Collaboration Is The Key To Success

Members of the Six Mile Creek Partnership represent diverse interests yet share a conviction that working together is the best way to address individual concerns, many of which focus on erosion and sedimentation. Stretching from its headwaters in Hammond Hill State Forest to its confluence with the Cayuga Lake Inlet, this creek is one of the greatest contributors of sediment to Cayuga Lake, according to the Cayuga Lake Watershed Restoration and Protection Plan.

Many small erosion sites together contribute large amounts of sediment to Cayuga Lake.

When addressing a concern of this magnitude, collaboration makes more efficient use of information, expertise and funding. Without coordination, work done along one part of the creek may have a detrimental effect on a downstream section or may render ineffective previously completed work.

The Towns of Caroline and Dryden are working hard to address channel shifts and the causes of erosion that have long vexed residents, who are losing backyards and barns to the natural flow of the creek. The City of Ithaca is working to reduce sediment in the creek, which provides drinking water to its residents. Reducing sediment allows the water treatment plant to be more cost effective, more easily meet health standards and use fewer chemicals to process their award-winning drinking water.

Streambank erosion is common along Six Mile Creek

Cornell University students mapped the erosion potential from roadside ditches and streambanks along the entire creek in order to identify critical areas for protection efforts. CU students also worked with the Natural Areas Commission on a vegetation survey and management plan in the Mulholland Wildflower Preserve.

US Geological Survey is studying how groundwater interacts with the creek’s water. Through a variety of public education programs, the Cayuga Lake Watershed Network teaches residents the benefits of woody plants along shorelines and their role in protecting the groundwater that feeds the creek. Conservation easements through the Finger Lakes Land Trust protect the creek and the species that depend upon it.

The Six Mile Creek Partnership seeks to enhance coordination among these many efforts, and others not mentioned here, that protect the natural environment, private and public property, and Ithaca’s drinking water supply.