Protecting Our Wetlands

Restoration project receives EPA grant

Most visits to Westerville Community Center include a lap around the pool or walking track, a run on the treadmill, or attending a fitness or creative arts class. Visitors to the building can find another hidden-in-plain-sight gem—the wetland habitat. Known as Alkyre Run Wetland and Floodplain, the area is one of the City's 42 acres of wetlands.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) awarded Westerville Parks and Recreation a $340,000 grant to complete the restoration of the area. Goals include:

⊲ Reducing nutrients, silts and sediment inputs

⊲ Restoring the wetland habitat for storm flow runoff

⊲ Passively treat runoff before it flows into the mainstrem of Alum Creek.

The restoration of the four-acre site will:

⊲ Diversify the plant community

⊲ Create a wildlife habitat

⊲ Protect Westerville's drinking water

Alkyre Run flows directly into Alum Creek, just North of the Water Division intake area.

"The project will introduce a more naturalized stream alignment and add two acres of wetland buffer around it which will slow stormwater surges and clean the water,” said Parks Development Administrator Laura Ball.

The EPA grant is unique in that it does not require any matching funds and covers the cost of planning consultants, design and construction document development. The restoration project will be completed at no cost to the City.

Because of its adjacency to the Westerville Community Center, the restoration project provides a unique opportunity to highlight wetland restoration within a highly developed suburban area. Plans to diversify the wetland include pockets of emergent, wet meadow plantings, seasonally and semi-permanently flooded wetland pools, the establishment of native trees and shrubs, and an overlook viewing area.

To encourage interaction with the wetland, the City, at no cost to the EPA, has installed a pedestrian bridge that spans the area. The full restoration project is expected to be complete by mid-2026.

“This restoration was originally planned as part of the Community Center expansion project, so we are very pleased to have found a grant to finally bring the vision to reality,” said Ball.