ECWA
Ellerbe Creek Watershed Association
  • Who We Are
    • Our Staff and Board
    • Our Volunteers
    • Our Supporters
    • Our Annual Report
    • History of Ellerbe Creek
    • Careers
  • Our Preserves
    • 17-Acre Wood
    • Beaver Marsh
    • Glennstone
    • Pearl Mill
    • The Rocks
  • Our Work
    • Preserve Stewardship
    • Water Management
    • Land Protection
    • Community Engagement
    • Advocacy
    • Creek Smart​® >
      • About Creek Smart​®
      • Make Your Property Creek Smart
      • Walking Tours
      • Downspout Disconnection
      • Cisterns
      • Rain Gardens >
        • Siting
        • Designing
        • Installing
  • Watershed Stories
  • Attend An Event
  • Donate

Our Work

Ellerbe Creek Watershed Association is working to widen the water movement in Durham and beyond.
 
In its healthiest places, the banks of Ellerbe Creek teem with creeping phlox, wild ginger, and Jack-in-the-pulpit, the water flowing through groves of red buckeye, river birch, and black gum. In its most polluted places, the banks of the creek are crowded with invasive privet and lesser celandine, its twists and turns choked with plastic bags, styrofoam cups, and other trash.
 
Due to Durham’s industrial past, it has been many years since each mile of this creek was healthy and thriving, when children could swim and play on its banks, or catch fish in its deeper pools. Today, many parts of the creek are simply uninhabitable for wildlife and too polluted for children to safely play.
 
But our watershed, which has been on the list of North Carolina’s most polluted water bodies since 1998, remains a vital source of clean drinking water for more than half a million people. That’s why we’ve been working since 1999 to protect and restore the land within our watershed. We are engaging the neighborhoods around Durham’s creeks to join us in advocating for our community’s most vital natural resource: our water.

Preserve Stewardship

Picture
ECWA deepens the community's connection to nature preserves through service opportunities.​
LEARN ABOUT OUR PRESERVE STEWARDS
Picture
Picture

Water Management

Picture
​ECWA restores watershed function.
LEARN ABOUT WATER MANAGEMENT

Land Protection

Picture
ECWA protects the land that protects clean water.
LEARN ABOUT LAND PROTECTION​
Picture
Picture

Community
Engagement

Picture
ECWA engages Durham residents in our neighborhood watershed and creek.
LEARN  ABOUT COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

Get stories from the watershed, direct to ​your inbox

Our emails are informative and occasional. We know you're busy.

​Sign up to receive our newsletter featuring ​volunteer opportunities, events, news, and more.

* indicates required
Picture
​Office: 904 Broad St Durham, NC 27705 | Mailing: PO Box 2679 Durham, NC 27715 
919.698.9729 | info@ellerbecreek.org
Copyright ©ECWA 
  • Who We Are
    • Our Staff and Board
    • Our Volunteers
    • Our Supporters
    • Our Annual Report
    • History of Ellerbe Creek
    • Careers
  • Our Preserves
    • 17-Acre Wood
    • Beaver Marsh
    • Glennstone
    • Pearl Mill
    • The Rocks
  • Our Work
    • Preserve Stewardship
    • Water Management
    • Land Protection
    • Community Engagement
    • Advocacy
    • Creek Smart​® >
      • About Creek Smart​®
      • Make Your Property Creek Smart
      • Walking Tours
      • Downspout Disconnection
      • Cisterns
      • Rain Gardens >
        • Siting
        • Designing
        • Installing
  • Watershed Stories
  • Attend An Event
  • Donate