Get to know the Tributaries to the Scioto River and Adopt a Stream
This is meant to be start of a series looking at all Scioto tributaries in the SWAG area, I picked this one just because I already knew a little about it. Wright’s Run flows through Dublin’s Ferris Wright Park just before its confluence with the Scioto River, north of I270 and Emerald Pkwy. On google maps it is an unnamed tributary, but a Dublin Bright Road Land Use Study calls it Wright’s Run also known as Billingsley Creek.
The main stem of Wright’s Run is about 2¼ miles long, and using the EPA’s StreamCat tool we find that the watershed area of Write’s Run is 5.1sqmi (3265acres). In 2019, 12% of the land were urban high density and 25% low density urban development with 43.7% impervious surfaces up from 35% in 2001. The stream runs from its confluence just west of Riverside Dr across and beyond Sawmill Rd on the east, through Ferris Wright Park and variable undeveloped to highly built-up areas. Most of this land was farmland prior to 1976.
On the west side of Riverside Dr, the creek runs through an old residential area with 1915 and 1917 homes just south of the Dublin Arts Council. One can get a wonderful view of the stream from the bike path on the east side of Riverside Dr, where Wright’s Run tumbles through a beautiful limestone ravine. This land and the farm field to the north are still privately owned, but we can hope that it will become part of Ferris Wright Park one day. The park contains the Holder-Wright Earthworks thought to be constructed between 300 B.C. and 500 A.D by the Hopewell. In the park, the creek is at a higher elevation and here it runs on younger Ohio Shale rock. It can be easily accessed near the pedestrian bridge, and this would be a good spot for Volunteer Stream Quality Monitoring.
Going upstream from the park, the creek runs through the 1960s Grandee Cliff residential neighborhood. It skirts the new Hopewell Elementary School and crosses Bright Rd. North of Bright Rd the stream runs through a 10-acre undeveloped farmland property (4338 Bright Rd) where the creek forks. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if this land would become a park? I found a May 2024 concept plan for developing this property as a site for about 20 residential homes but leaving open areas for the creek with a connection the Ferris Wright Park – hopefully for public access.
The main branch of Wright’s Run goes west from here, between Bright Rd and Macduff Way, through a 1970s residential neighborhood, through a retention pond and then crosses Emerald Pkwy. From here to Sawmill Rd, the stream runs south of Life Time Fitness Center which is surrounded by 8ac acres of parking lots draining directly into the stream. The creek itself runs through a significant stretch of undeveloped land, and it appears that it follows its natural winding course here except for retention ponds on the east and west sides. The vegetation includes shrubs and herbaceous plants mostly Canada goldenrod and some mullein, but there also is a good number of mature deciduous trees perhaps 30- 40 years old: hackberries, sycamores and cottonwoods and some cedars. All this looks like natural succession after farm fields were abandoned in this area. The land is crisscrossed by dear tracks. Unfortunately, there is also a significant amount of trash. On the west side, 3 lots are owned by the City of Dublin, the remaining 7 lots are owned by S&K Real Property LLC. Would be great if this area were a public green space – yup, dream on! This land is way too valuable (multi-million$) and will get developed sooner or later – but perhaps one could advocate for a wide accessible stream corridor?
Next, Wright’s Run crosses Sawmill Rd and goes underground on the east side of Sawmill Rd; under the Sawmill Center Mall and north of Hard Rd under CVS, Sheetz, and Swansons. It “reappears” in a retention pond by “Old Sawmill on the Lake” condo complex. After crossing Summer Dr, the stream is in a linear, cemented ditch around Walmart. The land is owned by the adjacent apartment complex. This is the end of what can be seen of Wright’s Run. There is no indication of a stream in the apartment complex or residential neighborhood north of Sawmill Forest Rd. The flow in the ditch behind Walmart is just storm sewer drainage.
The branch running north from 4338 Bright Rd is not mapped on streamcat, only on the Franklin County Auditor’s website. It is much smaller than the main branch, and may be an intermittent stream, but can be seen after significant precipitation crossing MacBeth. It goes through two residential properties and then runs through a wooded shallow ravine (Dublin City Reserve A), all the way north to Hart Rd. Land contours and drainage grates at the Dublin Scioto High School suggest that there may have been a creek bed at some time. Again, this whole area is drained by storm sewers in the school parking lots.
You may wonder, why look at a small tributary in this much detail. I found this pretty little stream first at Ferris Wright Park and was especially amazed by the gorgeous ravine and waterfall, so I was just curious where it came from. With a strong interest in water quality and having done volunteer Stream Quality Monitoring with ODNR’s Scenic Rivers and FLOW (Friends of Lower Olentangy Watershed), I immediately wondered about the water quality in this creek. Though it looks fairly pristine in the park, its water quality is determined by everything that it comes through upstream. That’s why I followed the maps and drove around checking out what it really looks like on the ground. Since most of the land in urban areas is private property, only glimpses from road crossings are possible.
SWAG’s goal as a watershed group is to preserve and enhance stream corridors. Knowing what’s there is step ONE. Only then can we think about how to preserve and enhance the stream corridor. What can we do? Since most of the land is private, its mostly up to the landowners. Perhaps family homeowners can become stewards and monitor the stream in their backyard for any sudden indicators of pollution and/or be encouraged to plant a healthy riparian area by the stream. Development of the significant undeveloped acreage is most likely unavoidable, but perhaps we could advocate for using city zoning such that a wider than the minimal legally required corridor remains in a natural state as riparian area forest. Dublin seemingly has several such protected corridors. Connected corridors with hiking trails would be great for recreation and would also be significant habitat for urban wildlife and very valuable ecosystems. On the north end, around the Walmart, perhaps one could get permission from the apartment complex/condo owners to plant areas that are now just mowed grass, for example, with cup plants or shrubs.
In my mind knowing the whole run of a stream is a step toward adopting a stream and caring for it any way possible.