Before the time of European settlements, the two watersheds were balanced ecosystems with a diversity of plants, wildlife and fish.  This was a mosaic of prairie, oak savanna, and wetlands, maintained by fires ignited both by lightning and the Native Americans in the area.  Herds of  bison and elk also helped maintain the landscape by their grazing.  Most of the water that fell as rain or snow was absorbed in the upland prairie and savannas or within the extensive wetlands that existed along the stream corridors.  Some percentage of the rain and snow in the western parts of the Spring Creek Watershed quickly – within hours, days or weeks – trickled down to the network of shallow aquifers that now provide our drinking water.  The western area is a “rapid recharge” area for our aquifers (more on this in the groundwater section).  Any additional waters slowly seeped into Spring Creek or Flint Creek.

Ecological conditions changed drastically and quickly following European settlement in the mid 1800’s.  Settlers removed most of the prairie and savanna and drain tiles were installed to drain the wetland areas for farming.  Buffalo and elk were hunted to extinction.  As the 1900’s dawned, residential and commercial development followed.

As people alter the landscape and it becomes more urbanized, streams suffer the side effects.  Urbanization creates hard, or impervious, surfaces such as roads, rooftops, sidewalks and parking lots, causing greater stormwater runoff.  Stormwater drains empty into area creeks.  As runoff velocity and volume increase, streambanks erode, water becomes cloudy with suspended soil particles, and sensitive habitats degrade.  Soon come invasive species, degraded in-stream habitat, phosphorus and nitrogen runoff from improper land management, and more sediment deposition.  These effects generally result in poor water quality.  That happened in Flint Creek.