See MEJO posts about Starkweather Creek at https://mejo.us/?s=starkweather
2021 EMCC Earth Day cleanup photos
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Earth Day 2020
Midwest Environmental Justice Organization and East Madison Community Center teens find significantly elevated PFAS levels in Starkweather Creek sediments
See full 2020 Starkweather report here
News coverage here, here, here. Photos below–MEJO and EMCC team at Starkweather Creek, meeting at EMCC to discuss results.
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2018-2019: MEJO Starkweather Creek Environmental Justice Project
EARTH DAY UPDATE (APRIL 22, 2019)
FINAL REPORT: Starkweather Creek & Toxic Stormwater Runoff: Pollution, Governance & Environmental Justice in Madison, Wisconsin
ONLINE INTERACTIVE GIS MAP (Android/iPhone)
ONLINE INTERACTIVE MAP (Web Browser)
Below, Starkweather Creek in the Darbo Worthington neighborhood:
See all project Starkweather EJ project photos here.
In Fall 2017, MEJO launched a project funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Environmental Justice Program to engage people living in the Truax and Darbo Worthington neighborhoods in learning about Starkweather Creek and about how a variety of stormwater pollution issues affect it. We held several community meetings and events to engage people in learning about and discussing these issues with others in their community. We also organized trash cleanup and fishing events at the creek. Further, we surveyed 100 residents in Truax and Darbo (as well as anglers and people from other neighborhoods we encountered along the creek) about their knowledge, perspectives, and recommendations about it.
Our project partners were the East Madison Community Center, Northside Planning Council, and the University of Wisconsin, Dept. of Geography GIS Capstone Program (UW partners participated from spring 2017 through December 2017). The Gambian Youths of Wisconsin and Ho-Chunk Gaming Madison also provided key project support.
To better understand regulatory authorities to address MEJO’s and community members’ concerns and recommendations about the creek, we reviewed available environmental reports and documents on the creek, as well as city, county, and state regulations relevant to these issues. We also talked with city, county, and state government officials about their stormwater regulatory requirements pertaining to issues community members expressed concerns about during surveys and meetings.
For more details about our community events, survey results and stormwater regulatory reviews, see the final project report: Starkweather Creek & Toxic Stormwater Runoff: Pollution, Governance & Environmental Justice in Madison, Wisconsin
As part of the project, project leader Ida Jammeh developed an online interactive GIS map–see here (online app here). We will be adding to the map as we gather more Starkweather Creek stories, photographs, etc. from the community. If you’d like to add something, please let us know! info@mejo.us
PAST Starkweather EJ project events:
The July 25 Ho-Chunk and Starkweather Creek Event was a huge success! Read more and see photos here.
UPCOMING EVENT–StarkweatherCreek: Past, Present & Future: Wednesday, July 25, 6:30pm, East Madison Community Center, 8 Straubel Ct. Madison.
Feature presentation: “Ho-Chunk People of DeJope” with Missy Tracy and Kyla Beard from Ho-Chunk Gaming Madison, and also “Starkweather Creek: Brief History & Current Challenges” with Maria Powell, Touyeng Xiong and Ida Jammeh of MEJO. A free multi-cultural meal will be served after the presentations! See more info here.
Starkweather July 7 fishing trip was a huge success! Read more about it, and see photos here…
Starkweather Project Team Explores Storm Drains Leading to the Creek
On March 3, 2018 we walked across Wright St. from the Truax apartments and discovered a large storm drain dammed up with trash (including a tire!). We let City of Madison Engineering know about it, and they said they would send crews out to clean it up. Hooray! We’ll post another picture when the trash has been removed.
Where did this trash and tire come from? We’re looking into it…
On March 14, we checked out the storm drain again. City crews had cleaned up some of the trash, but left quite a bit of it there. Trash was strewn in the water near the storm drain.
On April 21st, we teamed up with the Gambian Youths of Wisconsin and youth from the East Madison Community Center and cleaned up the trash for Earth Day. See post and more photos here.
After the cleanup:
More Information about Starkweather Creek:
WHERE IS IT? MAPS
Stormwater runoff risk map (by Connor Friese, UW-Geography GIS Capstone student)
If you google “Starkweather Creek,” you will find several other maps of the Starkweather Creek watershed! Several of the reports linked to below also include maps of the watershed.
GENERAL INFORMATION
DNR Starkweather information: see here and here (and follow links for more information)
City of Madison Starkweather Creek page
REPORTS, PLANS
1983 Starkweather Creek Water Quality Plan
1987-1991 Starkweather Creek Action Plan
1993 DNR Wisconsin SMART Program: Starkweather Creek
City’s 2004 Starkweather Master Plan Update
2005 Gallagher Plat Improvement Plan
2006 UW Nelson Institute Water Resources Management Starkweather Creek Report
2010-2012 Olbrich Park Beach Sanitary Survey
2017 City of Madison Starkweather Treatment System Engineering Report
WATER, SEDIMENT, TOXICITY DATA
1988-present DNR monitoring data (click on “monitoring and projects”)
1993 DNR Wisconsin SMART Program: Starkweather Creek
2013-2014 City of Madison/Public Health Illicit Discharge & Detection Report
2016 SPMD Water Quality Sampling of Starkweather Creek
2016 City of Madison Road Salt report (with Starkweather data)
2017 DNR Starkweather Creek Sediment Toxicity Study
Starkweather Creek just south of the Dane County Regional Airport
[…] Starkweather Environmental Justice Project : engaging people living in the Truax and Darbo Worthington neighborhoods in learning about Starkweather Creek and about how a variety of storm-water pollution issues affect the creek. […]