Waterfowl fouling water

Conservationists work to clean waterways

September 23, 2005

JOEL DAVIDSON/Frontiersman reporter

WASILLA - Dead and wounded ducks are increasingly common where Wasilla Lake empties into Cottonwood Creek.

Lake water runs under the busy Palmer-Wasilla Highway and into the creek, where flocks of wild and feral ducks gather for free handouts from unwitting kids and their parents.

In the next few weeks, as migratory birds swing south again, the number of ducks is expected to surge. As people head down to the bank by foot, four-wheeler and car to feed the hungry flock, they contribute both to rapid erosion along the stream bank and migratory disruption of wild birds.

"When people feed the ducks, they think they are doing a good thing, but in the big picture it does far more harm than good," said George Taylor, program director for Wasilla Soil and Water Conservation District.

On Wednesday, Taylor led a group of fourth-grade students in an effort to stabilize the eroded creek bank and revegetate the surrounding area.

The student volunteers from Wasilla Lake Christian School wore hip waders and boots as they sloshed, shovels in hand, through shin-deep mud. They planted native alders and rose bushes near the creek and built natural buffers along the creek to help mitigate erosion.

Taylor said the growing flock of feral and wild ducks that winters along the creek poses environmental problems for the heavily used waterway.

People, motorized vehicles and hundreds of ducks eating, roosting and defecating in and around the creek has turned a once-natural creek bank into soft, bacteria-infested mud.

"Nature pretty much takes care of itself," Taylor explained. "If these ducks are allowed to spread out and find their own place, they do fine, but when we concentrate them in one area there are problems."

Groundwater contamination and health threats to both animals and people are possible consequences if the problem is ignored, Taylor said.

"Since almost all the water we use here in the Valley comes from groundwater, we've got to be concerned about where we are putting all this fecal contamination," he said.

A few years ago, waterway restoration was not really a concern in the Mat-Su. But in the last five years, the Wasilla Soil and Water Conservation District has helped restore approximately half a dozen waterways. More projects are slated for the future.

So far, projects have varied from helping salmon get through problematic road culverts to addressing erosion and water-quality monitoring. Heavy construction and road upgrades put pressure on waterways, Taylor said.

Teacher Jenna Friese said she jumped at the opportunity to enlist her fourth-graders in the creek-restoration effort, which took place only a couple hundred yards from the school site.

Friese said the service project gives her kids a chance to put learning into practice.

"This combines both community service and science," she said, pausing from planting a tree in the soft mud.

Taylor said these types of projects also give kids a sense of stewardship over their neighborhoods.

"All we can do now is hope people don't drive their vehicles down here any longer," he added. "As we look at a more dense population, the areas along stream banks need adequate protection. We have to pay more attention."

Contact Joel Davidson at

352-2266, or joel.davidson@

frontiersman.com.