Environmental educator Catherine Robertson pointed inside a row of water-filled plastic tubs, where larvae and salamanders scooted. A gaggle of kids tromped along the rocks of Porter Branch Creek in the McDowell Nature Preserve, scooping up critters with green dip nets and depositing their samples in white buckets.
“Today, we're having a Stream Watch program, and they're going to take dip nets and buckets and actually look for a little macroinvertebrates, salamanders and amphibians,” Robertson said. “[They’ll] be able to identify them and see what type of water quality we have in this stream based on what they find.”
This is part of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Storm Water’s Creek Week, an annual event that’s about raising awareness about environmental stewardship.
But what is a creek? Robertson said creeks and streams are the same: They’re small branches of water that feed our lakes and rivers. Mecklenburg County has over 3,000 miles of streams, according to Charlotte-Mecklenburg Storm Water Services.
“It's important to keep it clean, because everything that flows downstream will affect the water quality for the people down there as well,” Robertson said.
It also improves the water quality for our slimy neighbors, the salamanders — which, in turn, helps keep Carolina summers mosquito-free.
“Having healthy amphibians, they eat a lot of insects that we don't like getting eaten by in the summer,” Robertson said.
And good water quality can promote the health of "good" bugs and critters, like caddisflies and mayflies. Ecologists call them macroinvertebrates, and they speak volumes about the watery world they live in. Sampling these critters allows researchers to identify which specific pollutants are present in a waterway.
“There's some indicator species that are really sensitive to pollution, some that are a little more tolerant and some that are extremely tolerant to pollution,” Robertson said. “So if we find those sensitive ones, then we'll know that our water quality is pretty good in our stream.”
Salamanders are one of those sensitive species that tell Robertson that the water quality is good. As we stood over the tub, a juvenile salamander with its frilled gills gobbled up another of these important indicator species, indicating that the amphibian was hungry.
This biological diversity is also a climate solution. Healthy forests, wetlands and other habitats are the main way that legacy greenhouse gas emissions exit the atmosphere. But these ecosystems depend on biological diversity to flourish and continue sequestering the carbon pollution that comes from burning fossil fuels.
Creeks as climate solutions
As the climate warms and the city expands, urban flooding is becoming a bigger problem. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Storm Water’s Marissa Barrett said that is especially true in a county that gets more rain annually than Seattle.
“We’re making sure that our creeks and rivers are flowing properly,” Barrett said. “All of that helps move the water out of our neighborhoods.”
Charlotte’s Climate Risk Assessment identified urban flooding as an “acute” threat that presents “moderate” risk to the city. “High” risk disasters included extreme heat, severe thunderstorms and water stress. Hurricane Helene damaged 170 structures near the Catawba River, WFAE reported in November 2024.
“Charlotte is projected to see an increase between 10% and 20% in annual financial loss from flooding, including costs associated with damage to buildings, infrastructure, and residential homes by 2050,” the Climate Risk Assessment said.
Some areas in the city are mostly impervious surface, such as roofs, roads and parking lots, which means less ground for water to penetrate, leading to increased flood risk. Water travels further over built environments, picking up pollution along the way. That pollution flows into streams and eventually connects with downstream reservoirs.
“It's really, really important that we bring awareness to people to make sure that we're telling them that only rain should go down these storm drains,” Barrett said.
Learn more about Creek Week!
Interested in exploring your neighborhood creek? Take the following advice:
- Take the road most traveled! Excessive foot traffic causes erosion along the banks and weakens the stream’s ability to process incoming stormwater.
- Put the rocks back where you found them! Odds are, they’re somebody’s home. Building rock dams can also disrupt the water’s flow.
- Pack out what you take in! Don’t leave any litter behind that will damage your local water quality. Don’t be afraid to leave with more trash to brought in while you’re at it!
- Join a guided tour with Catawba Riverkeeper, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Storm Water Services, or Park and Recreation to any of the over 3,000 miles of streams across the county.
