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Nine Mile Run
By Kelly Meinhart
 ine
Mile Run reminds me of the little train that could. Faced with
many challenging obstacles, the members of the Nine Mile Run
watershed will somehow find a way to return this very urban
stream to a healthy condition. Somehow you just know in your
heart that it will happen.
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visited with Marijke Hecht, the Executive Director of the Nine
Mile Run Watershed Association, thinking that I was going to
be seeing a stream in need of serious stream bank restoration
and natural stream design work. That’s the current focus
of restoration work on the waterway, so that was what I expected
to see.
 hat
I found were a host of problems that made my jaw drop, and my
stomach turn upside down. As Marijke showed me, stream bank
restoration is just the beginning for Nine Mile Run. Nine Mile
Run is an urban/suburban watershed on the outskirts of Pittsburgh,
and it flows through the neighborhoods of Edgewood, Wilkinsburg,
Swissvale, and parts of Pittsburgh until it reaches its destination
at the Monongahela River. Many people commuting into Pittsburgh
travel through or along the watershed and never even know of
it. If you travel 376 toward Pittsburgh, you’ve driven
right along Nine Mile Run – never knew it was down there,
did you?
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’ll start with the headwaters of the watershed. As Marijke
explained it, it’s a watershed that is ‘flip-flopped’.
The headwaters of Nine Mile Run, the towns listed above, are
unique in that all of the water of Nine Mile Run has been channeled
underground. That is one of the unimaginable things of urban
watersheds. In the development of the towns and cities, streams
were ‘managed’ and piped underground. Although I
know it’s true, it’s still hard to imagine.
 he
water travels underground through the seven square mile watershed
for most of its journey, until it reaches Frick Park where it
suddenly outfalls above ground. But the journey remains very
unnatural for quite a distance. Surging from a concrete culvert,
the water then flows through a concrete channel until it is
allowed to finally flow freely.
 ut
that’s really not the worst of Nine Mile Run’s problems.
At the site of the concrete culvert there are four municipal
outflow pipes that discharge directly into the creek. There
are really two main problems with this scene – first,
some of these pipes have been connectors for both water lines
and sewer lines. It’s not uncommon for raw sewage to drain
directly into Nine Mile Run. On the day I visited, the smell
was very poignant, and I was shocked to see toilet paper along
the banks of the stream, not to mention feminine products in
the stream itself. It’s not a pretty picture, but I have
to paint it for you. The stream needs everyone’s help.
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he
second major issue that faces this stream is one that faces
many urban waterways – storm water. The surrounding suburban
areas are largely impermeable surfaces and do not allow for
rainwater to filter through. Instead, this water runs over surfaces
at an incredible rate, or through area storm drains, until it
reaches Nine Mile Run. At this point the water is moving with
such velocity that it erodes away the streambanks of the free
flowing sections of stream. This not only carries tons of sediment
downstream into the Monongahela, but tons of garbage as well.
So it’s really a two-fold storm water problem –
erosion of the banks, and transport of garbage and debris.
lthough the organization runs stream clean ups on a regular
basis, Marijke points out that they’d have to do one after
every rain event in order to keep debris from the streambanks.
With a newly forming membership base of only about 40 people
and only one staff member, the group could use some help.
 eeling
overwhelmed for Nine Mile Run at this point? I certainly was,
and still feel that way. But like I said, Marijke and the members
and board members of Nine Mile Run are working hard to turn
all of this around.
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off, they are addressing the erosion problems by working directly
with city officials and the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers on a
project that will re-establish the streambanks, re-channel parts
of the stream into historic wetland areas, and create additional
wetland areas to enhance the stream. It’s a 7.7-million
dollar project that will solve some of the storm water problems
and will increase and improve habitat for invertebrates, fish,
and streamside plants.
he
group is also working with the local communities to get them
involved in protecting Nine Mile Run. Reducing litter, distributing
rain barrels to homeowners, developing a community forestry
initiative, and encouraging citizen eco-stewards are just the
beginning to the activities planned by the watershed to take
back Nine Mile Run. They also work with landowners to encourage
the use of native plants and decreasing use of fertilizers,
and by planting trees and creating urban habitat areas.
especially enjoyed learning about the rain barrel program. What
an easy, yet innovative approach to increasing ground water
recharge while reducing storm water. If you’ve never seen
one, it’s simply a barrel, which attaches to your rainspouts
and hold the rain water inside the barrel rather than releasing
it into the street side storm drains. The barrel attaches to
your garden hose so that you can then release the water over
your yard and flower gardens – allowing the water to naturally
filter into the ground rather than rush across it into Nine
Mile Run. Just think of the difference this could make if every
home in the watershed had rain barrels!
will be re-visiting the watershed after the restoration work
has begun for a follow-up story, so you we will all learn even
more about this unique watershed as the months progress.
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To learn more about the watershed and the association, check
out their website which just went online this month:
Nine Mile
Run
Help
the Nine Mile Run watershed by becoming
a member (Click on Please Join Us at the top)
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