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Nine Mile Run Prepares for 'A Summer Storm' Fundraiser at Frick Park

This year's fundraiser is held at Frick Park.

Although the event is a celebration of the $7.6 million restoration of , this year’s fundraiser theme, "A Summer Storm," also highlights work that remains to be done to help communities manage rainwater in a more eco-friendly way.

“Last year’s event was called 'A Midsummer Night’s Storm' as a kind of joke because the previous two years it rained,” said watershed association director Brenda Smith. “But it was a mouthful, so we shortened it to ‘A Summer Storm.’”

Of course, the organization focuses on , so the name naturally brings attention to the mission. The event is this Saturday at 7 p.m. in lower .

In a project completed five years ago, Nine Mile Run, named for its distance on the Monongahela River from Point State Park, was reconfigured into a meandering series of riffles and pools designed to sustain aquatic life, while the floodplain was rid of unwanted vegetation and replanted with 250 different kinds of native grasses, shrubs and trees.

Redwing blackbirds, cedar waxwings, wild turkeys and other species of winged creatures are routinely seen in the watershed, and a variety of fish and amphibians long absent from the stream are returning to the water. 

“We’ve found smallmouth bass, bluegills, pumpkinseeds, green sunfish, bluntnose minnows and other fish in our surveys, along with big bullfrogs and a snapping turtle,” Smith said. “The diversity increases as you get close to the Mon.”

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But there are still problems in the upper watershed, with runoff from Edgewood, Swissvale, Wilkinsburg and the city of Pittsburgh gushing into the stream with too much volume and velocity.

“The stream goes up too quickly soon after it rains hard,” Smith said. “If you walk along the boardwalk off Commercial Road, you can see mud marks on trees and weeds and where plastic bags were deposited.”

Quarterly testing of Nine Mile Run shows e-coli counts are much higher than federal clean water standards, especially after storm events.

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“The stream is a lot less polluted than it once was—50 years ago it was known as ‘stink creek,' but it still isn’t safe to let your dog drink from,” Smith said.

The culprits include an antiquated sewer system in the city of Pittsburgh that mixes rainwater with raw sewage after downpours, as well as too much impervious pavement and too few trees throughout the 6.5 square mile watershed. Despite a federal mandate requiring Pittsburgh and other municipalities to upgrade plumbing systems, “grey” infrastructure improvements may be decades away, making lower-cost “green” solutions a better option, Smith said.

Through the watershed association’s StormWorks program, homeowners and businesses can purchase rain barrels and contract to have rain gardens designed and installed near roofs, driveways and walkways. There are already 1,400 rain barrels in the watershed. Rain gardens are sunken beds that allow runoff from paved surfaces to soak into the ground, and include native vegetation with robust root systems, such as aster and astilbe.

The watershed association also encourages tree plantings and has begun partnering in a project to plant 500 saplings in Wilkinsburg, with support from PennVest and at the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy.

“Trees are some of the best rainwater managers,” said TreeVitalize director Jeff Bergman. “The leaves intercept rainfall and the roots take up water, which slows runoff.”

Trees also cool the air and clean the atmosphere by absorbing carbon dioxide and they’re been shown to improve property values by at least 10 percent, Smith said.

So far, 93 trees have been planted in Wilkinsburg with the remainder slated for this fall and next spring.

“We’re doing outreach in the community to mobilize volunteers to help with plantings and maintenance,” she said. “All of the trees are slated for public property.”

Educating and engaging the public is a big part of the watershed association’s mission and activities, including bird walks and litter sweeps, which are slated throughout the year.

"A Summer Storm" is the ideal opportunity to join the watershed association and network with other conservationists, Smith said.  “We’ll do tours of the stream, but it’s more of a big party and a lot of fun.”

Local restaurants are providing food and drink, and DoubleShot, an A Capella group, will perform. 

Tickets are $75 for a buffet dinner under a tent at 7 p.m., and $20 after 9 p.m., when beer and snacks are served. 

Join the association for $20 and admission is discounted. For more, visit www.ninemilerun.org.

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