AND THE HEALTH OF RICHLAND CREEK
2016-2018
Sugartree Creek is an urban stream running through the heart of Nashville’s Green Hills neighborhood. It is considered polluted by federal standards with two primary culprits – high nutrient levels and habitat loss due to man made alteration. There is no one quick solution to these problems making stream remediation a challenge.
With the generous support of The Frist Foundation, the Compact was able to take a layered approach to addressing impairment causes in the Sugartree Creek watershed. Through residential rain garden installations, tree plantings, stream cleanups and public education/awareness of “at-home” Best Management Practices for local water quality the Compact has been able to connect with over a thousand residents and capture over 1 million gallons of stormwater annually.
Perhaps more importantly, this project spurred the creation of Depave. Depave is a program that revitalizes areas of unused, non-absorbent pavement, to an area of green space that helps to capture and sink stormwater. Depave is an approach, previously unused in Nashville that targets unnecessary, often crumbling, impervious surfaces and replaces it with stormwater-absorbing greenspaces.
PROJECT SPONSORS: The Frist Foundation