Experts share water concerns near new Ky. park

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT) — There’s been a lot of excitement surrounding the grand opening of Gatton Park on the Town Branch here in Lexington, but many may not know that the park is a part of the Town Branch watershed.

The city said a watershed is an area of land where water, like rain or melted snow, drain into a larger body of water.

While this may not sound like much, the health of our watershed scan have an impact on things as important as drinking water.

“Its up to all of us to maintain the health and integrity of our waterways for the overall good of water use like drinking water, recreation, fishing or all kinds of goods that waterways provide,” said Chuck Davis, a civil engineer with Beaver Creek Hydrology.

Davis said Lexington gets its water from the Kentucky River, which the Town Branch watershed flows into.

Based on a 2011 study conducted by Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government, Davis said when it comes to stream habitat or even e-coli levels, the Town Branch has scored poorly.

“Most of our urban waterways receive these very similar scores over time, so I assume the town branch from 2011 until now, most of those parameters haven’t changed significantly,” he said.

But Davis said the park opening could bring good news when it comes to this.

“Things like Gatton Park, bringing water back to the surface, getting it out of pipes out of traditional gray infrastructure, like underground conveyance systems, and bringing water back to the surface definitely helps to improve the health of our streams,” he said.

Davis added its up to all of us, especially those who live near this area, to avoid littering and access use of chemicals like those in fertilizer to improve watershed quality.

“There’s something we can do collectively as a society by continuing to encourage our municipalities, our counties, our state and federal governments to invest in water mediation, water pollution reduction projects that help improve the health of our waterways,” he said.

WKYT reached out to the park’s CEO to get their perspective on this but have not heard back yet.

You can find a link to the city’s report card on the Town Branch here.

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