ECWA
Ellerbe Creek Watershed Association
  • Our Watershed
    • What is a Watershed?
    • History of the Ellerbe Creek Watershed
    • Plants & Animals
    • Stories from the Watershed
    • Ellerbe & Me
    • Blog
  • Our Preserves
    • Overview
    • 17-Acre Wood
    • The Rocks
    • Pearl Mill
    • Glennstone
    • Beaver Marsh
  • Our Work
    • Overview
    • Protect
    • Restore
    • Engage
    • Advocate
  • About Us
    • Our People
    • Careers
    • Our Supporters
    • History of ECWA
    • Guiding Documents
  • GET INVOLVED
    • Volunteer
    • Stewardship
    • Visit a Preserve
    • Make Your Property Creek Smart
    • Attend An Event
  • Donate

Protect

​ECWA protects the land that protects clean water.
As an urban watershed, Ellerbe Creek faces unique challenges. Of our watershed’s 37 square miles, more than half are within Durham’s city limits. That means the water flowing into our creeks is first running through developed land occupied by buildings, parking lots, and roads.
 
The goal of our land protection work is to minimize the damage done to our streams as a result of that development. Specifically, we aim to prevent the development of the wetlands and forested buffers along the main channel of Ellerbe Creek and its tributaries. Natural buffers are essential to creek protection as they improve water quality, store floodwaters, prevent pollutants from entering the stream, and serve as wildlife habitat. Also, protected lands become green open spaces for people to be outdoors.
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Water Quality in the Watershed
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​​We depend on willing landowners who voluntarily sell priority conservation properties or easements, which are then protected forever.  Partners, like the Upper Neuse River Clean Water Initiative, Clean Water Management Trust Fund, Triangle Community Foundation, and Durham’s Open Space and Trails Commission, provide the funding that helps us purchase these important lands.

ECWA’s Land Stewardship Committee creates management plans to restore the natural habitat and watershed function of our protected lands. With the help of volunteers, our preserve stewards work to restore the habitat and build trails so that the public can enjoy the nature in their neighborhood.
 
The City or County of Durham and the US Army Corps of Engineers owns a significant portion of the land that is a priority for protection in the watershed. We are working closely with the city and county governments to place conservation easements, conservation zoning, or other permanent protections on these publicly-owned creekside lands.
To date, we have protected over 450 acres from development. Five of the protected parcels are public preserves that citizens can visit and enjoy. The other parcels are closed to the public as they serve as important wildlife habitat or are inaccessible from nearby roads.
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ECWA is working with residents of East Durham to identify a project that will heal both the neighborhood and Goose Creek, a tributary of Ellerbe Creek.
DISCOVER PARKS WITH PURPOSE

​Get Involved

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ECWA​
Ellerbe Creek Watershed Association

Mail: PO Box 2679
Durham, NC 27715
Office: 2600 W. Carver St., Suite C 
Durham, NC 27705
919.698.9729
info@ellerbecreek.org
​
​OUR WATERSHED

What Is a Watershed?
History of the Watershed
Plants & Animals
Stories from the Watershed
Ellerbe & Me




​OUR PRESERVES

Overview
Glennstone
Beaver Marsh
Pearl Mill
The Rocks
17-Acre Wood
Non-Public Preserves
​
​OUR WORK

Overview
Protect
Restore

Engage
Advocate


​
​ABOUT US

Our People

Our Supporters
History of ECWA
Guiding Documents
​
​GET INVOLVED

Donate
Volunteer
Visit a Preserve
Creek Smart
Attend an Event
Copyright © 2019 ECWA   |   Terms   |   Privacy
  • Our Watershed
    • What is a Watershed?
    • History of the Ellerbe Creek Watershed
    • Plants & Animals
    • Stories from the Watershed
    • Ellerbe & Me
    • Blog
  • Our Preserves
    • Overview
    • 17-Acre Wood
    • The Rocks
    • Pearl Mill
    • Glennstone
    • Beaver Marsh
  • Our Work
    • Overview
    • Protect
    • Restore
    • Engage
    • Advocate
  • About Us
    • Our People
    • Careers
    • Our Supporters
    • History of ECWA
    • Guiding Documents
  • GET INVOLVED
    • Volunteer
    • Stewardship
    • Visit a Preserve
    • Make Your Property Creek Smart
    • Attend An Event
  • Donate