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US Fish and Wildlife biologists add mussels to monitor health of Stevens Creek

Kenneth Lee
/
WFAE
U.S. Wildlife biologist Jason Mays showing his team one of the tagged freshwater mussels.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will use some additional “muscle” to determine the health of Stevens Creek in Mint Hill. The agency hopes to create a sustainable environment — and reintroduce some endangered shellfish, too.

On Wednesday, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service dropped some new residents into Stevens Creek in Mint Hill: Carolina freshwater mussels. The organization is working with Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation and Storm Water Services to complete the project.

When the opportunity originally presented itself to collaborate, Storm Water Project Manager David Woodie welcomed the idea.

“We look for these opportunities," Woodie said. “They don't always arise that agencies can work together in the same location at the same time and everything comes together. We forced this one to come together because we knew that without one, it just wouldn't work ... without the other coming in. So, it was good to do all the work at one time. That way you have all the impacts at one time and then everything can start healing and growing back.”

Kenneth Lee
/
WFAE
U.S. Fish and Wildlife team working together to tag microchips on freshwater mussels that were placed into Stevens Creek in Mint Hill.

The mussels provide a living way to test the creek’s water quality. And they’ll aid with the possible reintroduction of the critically endangered Carolina Heelsplitter species into the creek. The Heelsplitter — once a staple of local waterways — was federally listed as an endangered species in 1993, and this project will be crucial to future restoration efforts.

“We are trying to develop the technology to do species restoration everywhere. And so this site is a great test bed for us,” Mays said. “We're learning, and what we learn here will be applied elsewhere.”

Storm Water Services has already helped restore two miles of the creek, which was muddied by erosion, runoff and other water quality issues. During the restoration they’ve improved water quality by creating high banks and local vegetation.

Water quality tests can be done in other ways, so why use animals to determine the health of the creek?

“We've restored the physical habitat, but, we don't exactly know what it takes to restore all of the species that would call this home, said Mays.

“You know, and it's way more than just the mussels. And so, with this study that we're doing, what we're really seeing is if these mussels that are relatively common and easy to get our hands on, can self-sustain in here. And if they do that's a really good sign that it's worth the effort and the expense to bring in additional new species.”

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Kenny is a Maryland native who began his career in media as a sportswriter at Tuskegee University, covering SIAC sports working for the athletic department and as a sports correspondent for the Tuskegee Campus Digest. Following his time at Tuskegee, he was accepted to the NASCAR Diversity Internship Program as a Marketing Intern for The NASCAR Foundation in Daytona Beach, Florida in 2017.