Wild Myriophyllum?

[mewickham]

I discovered some large stands of wild aquatic plants the other day, right here in Rogers between the Olive Garden and New Hope Road. I believe they are Myriophyllum species, but I saw them from a walkway above and wasn't close enough to tell. Plus, they are covered with algae/detritus/mud, so I really didn't get a good look. They could possibly be Cabomba or Limnophila spp.

[Jackielee]

It is very possible. I have found this in ponds and lakes that were manmade the conservation department put some plants in to create a good environment sometimes.

Jack

[sumpnfishy]

Are you talking about the pool with the fence around the west end? I want to collect the middle of that to see if there are Least Darters there. It is a spring pool and supposedly there are Least Darters somewhere up in there. I caught a huge orange throat out of there last week.
Michael

[rpddink]

That used to be the trout farm and it is spring feed. Dont know who owns it now. The area where the spring comes out - (east of the bagel shop) used to be the family the who owned the Tail of the Trout (the Bloomfeilds I think). Im not sure who owns it now but more than likely the city owns it. I played in that area with their boy when I was a kid.

[rpddink]

If anyone wanted some history....

[mewickham]

It's the stream just south of Olive Garden, between the restaurant and New Hope Road. There is a concrete segment of the city nature trail running just outside the Olive Garden parking lot, with a fence at the edge of that where you can look down to the water. The area is a small pool that's currently an offset of the stream, but I imagine that it may become part of the stream when water levels rise.

Interesting history, Rick! Tail of the Trout sounds a bit familiar. I wonder if they were still here when I moved to Rogers about 12 years ago. Is the spring in that fenced in pool east of the restaurants? (I think that may be what Michael meant when he said west.) The stream I'm talking about is definitely wet all year round. Being spring fed explains it. That's a strong spring. I'm surprised they've build building around there. Who knows how carved out the rocks are beneath!

[rpddink]

Yes, there are two streams, one goes around the back of home depot the other by new hope. And actually a dry creek runs next to the hospital. but the spring itself should be right next to new hope east of the restaurants.
It was a very strong stream. think it is now covered by the little pond they put at that spot.

A LOT of eyebrows were raised when they started building so close to a strong natural stream.

[sumpnfishy]

There is a aquatic conservation group that is putting in for a grant to restore a 1200 foot section of the creek behind Home Depot. I was thinking it may be a good volunteer project if it actually happens.

[mewickham]

I wonder what they plan to do? I walked down through there the other day. The stream was flowing intermittently. That is, there were pools in some spots, followed by stretches of dry stream bed. You could see water flowing at the end of the pools, but it disappeared into the rubble. It all looked natural, though-- at least, the part I saw.

[sumpnfishy]

The main problem is heavy siltation from runoff which is hurting Arkansas Darter and Least Darter populations. Here is a link to the proposal: http://www.wildlifearkansas.com/proposals/2011PreProposals/Stream%20Restoration%20of%20a%20Section%20of%20Turtle%20Creek%20in%20the%20Illinois%20River%20Watershed.pdf
1600 feet I guess though. As this is actually a pre-proposal for a 2011 project it may already have been approved or not. I may email the contact person and find out.
Michael