Watercress Darter Habitat Restoration Project Underway on Village Creek

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — It only took 10 years after the human-caused environmental disaster, but a habitat restoration project for the endangered watercress darter along Village Creek in Roebuck Springs is finally underway and should be completed by the summer of 2018, according to an announcement just out from the non-profit Freshwater Land Trust.

We’ve received no statement from the city of Birmingham, which faced fines of up to $2.9 million for the illegal breach of a beaver dam. City officials have been been mum on this disaster refusing to comment publicly on ongoing litigation since we first broke the story on it in September, 2008,

The director of Roebuck-Hawkins Park illegally authorized a crane operator to dig its way into a protected pond on Village Creek and destroy a natural beaver dam, without contacting federal or state officials for a permit or permission of any kind. The incident was a clear violation of the federal Endangered Species Act, resulting in the death of at about 1,100 endangered watercress darters when the pond drained into the creek.

Is this ringing any bells? The watercress darter is a small pretty fish that exists in about five places on the planet – all of them in Roebuck County. The Birmingham city officials destroyed one of them because ‘beavers’. They won a ton of federal attention and some hefty fines because of it. People are STILL talking about it.

After some preliminary efforts to save the fish, the pond and improve the habitat of the creek over the years, the non-profit Freshwater Land Trust got a contract to do more of a restoration project being paid for by the city in lieu of fines under the supervision of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the federal agency that administers the law.

This federally endangered fish is found only within Jefferson County, and Roebuck Springs is one of only five places where the watercress darter is known to exist.

“This restoration project is helpful to ensuring a healthy and stable population of this beautiful fish,” said Jeffrey Drummond, stewardship director at the Freshwater Land Trust. “Our restoration projects at three other sites in Jefferson County have increased darter populations, and we are proud to collaborate with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the City of Birmingham to improve the darter’s habitat at Roebuck Springs.”

In the past, the watercress darter population thrived at Roebuck Springs, in part due to a small dam built more than 100 years ago when Don Hawkins Park was first created. In 2008, the dam was removed after beavers built it up and the park management wanted to get rid of the beavers. Faced with fines of up to $2.9 million, the city maintenance staff created a buffer area around the spring in an effort to protect the darter’s habitat.

Fines of 2.9 million for removing a beaver dam! This has got to be my favorite bedtime story ever. Nice to hear that the “BIOSWALES” slow down and filter water. Ya know what else does that? BEAVER SWALES..

In 2010, the Freshwater Land Trust proposed to restore and conserve the area, and an agreement between the city and the agency named the organization to facilitate the restoration of the darter’s habitat. Work is now underway, and restoration is scheduled to be completed this summer, according to the recent announcement.

Can I please see a chart of how much money the city paid the beavers to make darter habitat and how much they are paying the Freshwater Land Trust to replace it? Just in the interests of science.

Speaking of which, this was posted a couple of days ago and I’ve been meaning to share. The photograph was taken by Bill Amido of New Hampshire. He writes he was standing on dam 3 to photograph 1 and 2.

Imagine how much fish habitat those would make!