| Plants | Mollusks | Arthropods | Fish | Amphibians | Reptiles | Birds | Mammals |
Trash in the Wetlands
City trash often washes
into urban creeks and wetlands
through stormwater drains.
Trash is unsightly along city streets, but in a wetland system it actually becomes a hazard to wildlife and water quality. Plastics make their way into the food web and have been found in the digestive systems of mussels and fish in freshwater creeks, and dolphins and birds in estuaries where freshwater rivers drain.
There are two main sources of trash in the Walnut Creek wetlands. Some trash is dumped directly in the wetlands along city streets. Dumping is illegal and residents should report any such activity to city officials.
Trash also makes its way into the wetlands from city streets. When a drink bottle or cigarette butt is through down on the streets of Raleigh, it eventually ends up being carried into stormwater drains by runoff According to the City of Raleigh, stormwater runoff is "rain that is not absorbed into the earth but instead enters storm drainage structures, pipe systems and open drainage channels on public and private property in the Capital City. Stormwater can carry harmful pollutants, cause flooding, erode topsoil and stream banks, and destroy habitats." Examples of pollutant sources include lawn fertilizer, oil leaked by cars onto the street, or pet feces left on sidewalks and in yards.
Click on the link to learn more about stormwater in Raleigh. when it rains. This trash ends up washing into urban creeks like Walnut Creek. Eventually the trash ends up in the Neuse River and even Pamlico Sound.
You can make a difference by making sure trash is thrown into proper waste bins in the city. You can also help improve our urban wetlands and freshwater river systems by participating in annual cleanup efforts like NC Big Sweep: http://www.ncbigsweep.org/.
Please contact the Walnut Creek Wetland Center for more information on how you can help clean up our urban wetlands!
Volunteers help with semiannual wetlands cleanups at Walnut Creek. Tire dumping is a common problem in the Walnut Creek wetlands.
