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Big Darby Creek

Field	Value
name	Big Darby Creek
image	File:Big Darby Creek upstream from Little Darby Creek 1.jpg
mouth_location	Scioto River, Columbus, Ohio
length_mi	84
discharge1_location	Darbydale
discharge1_avg	498 cuft/s, USGS water years 1922-2019
basin_size_mi2	556.6
river_system	Lower Scioto River Basin
extra	{{Designation list
embed	yes
designation1	nwsrs
designation1_type	Scenic
designation1_date	March 10, 1994

Big Darby Creek is a scenic river located in northwestern central Ohio, and an important tributary to the Lower Scioto River. The river's major tributary is the Little Darby Creek.

The river runs 84 mi from its source near the Champaign-Union county line, south-east through Union and Madison Counties. In Franklin County, the river runs through the 7060 acre Battelle Darby Creek Metro Park, where it meets with the Little Darby Creek. Directly downstream from the park, the river empties into the Scioto River in Pickaway County at .

Big Darby Creek is one of the most biologically diverse aquatic systems in the Midwestern United States. It is the site of the only known population of the Scioto madtom, a fish which is now thought to be extinct. In addition, for its size, the creek "has the greatest diversity of freshwater mussels in North America. Forty species have been reported from the system." During creek bird surveys from 1989-1991, Zoologist Dan Rice identified 86 species of riparian corridor bird species adjacent to Big Darby Creek Scenic River. Between 1984 and 1992, Rice conducted fish surveys and found 72 species of fish in Big Darby Creek.

History

When The Columbus Dispatch published an article in 1967 revealing the City of Columbus' plans to purchase over 4000 acres along the river to build a reservoir, a political and legal battle ensued between the municipality and several environmental groups working with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. From 1974 to 1984, both sides exchanged victories and the legal battle continued into the Ohio Supreme Court, who ended the battle by ruling that the 'scenic river' designation was constitutional. On June 22, 1984, the Upper and Lower Darby Creeks were designated a state scenic river, and then added to the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System on March 10, 1994. In 2003, Big Darby and Little Darby Creeks were also given their own Historical Markers.

In 2008, the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium built a new exhibit focusing on the Big Darby Creek and its more than 38 rare species of fish and mussels, and in 2009, the City of Columbus, Franklin County Metro Parks, the Ohio Nature Conservancy and other companies spent more than $6 million on seven projects designed to restore sections of the river and its tributaries.

The highest recorded flood crest was 17.94 ft on January 22, 1959.

Gallery

File:Big Darby and Little Darby Creek Sign.jpg|Historical Marker in Galloway File:Darby Creek Flood Gauge 1.jpg|Flood Gauge in Pickaway County File:Big Darby Creek downstream from Little Darby 1.jpg|Big Darby Creek downstream from meeting Little Darby creek File:Big Darby Creek Bridge.JPG|Bridge crossing Big Darby Creek located on Scioto-Darby Road in Pickaway County File:Meeting Point of Big and Little Darby Creeks.jpg|Confluence of the Big (front) and Little (rear) Darby creeks

References

"USGS Water-Year Summary for Site 03230500".
"Battelle Darby Creek Metro Park".
Franklin County Metro Parks, [http://www.metroparks.net/ParksBattelleDarbyCreek.aspx Battelle Darby Creek Metro Park]
The Nature Conservancy, [http://www.nature.org/wherewework/northamerica/states/ohio/bigdarby/ Darby Creek Watershed] {{Webarchive. link. (2009-09-22)
USFWS. [http://ecos.fws.gov/docs/five_year_review/doc3057.pdf ''Noturus trautmani'' Five-year Review.] December 2009.
[https://web.archive.org/web/20160624010958/http://www.ohiobiologicalsurvey.org/wp-content/themes/ohio/images/Watters_1_1998.pdf OBS Survey Notes]
Ohio Department of Natural Resources, [http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/tabid/981/Default.aspx Big Darby Creek State and National Scenic River] {{Webarchive. link. (2011-06-27 .)
Ohio History Connection, [http://remarkableohio.org/index.php?/category/648 Big and Little Darby Creeks Historical Marker Info]
Narciso, D. [http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2008/01/13/zoo.html Zoo exhibit to spotlight Big Darby Creek.] ''[[The Columbus Dispatch]]'' January 13, 2008.
Hunt, S. and T. Baker. [http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/science/stories/2009/12/13/sci_restore_intro.ART_ART_12-13-09_G3_IDFURGN.html?sid=101 Crooked creeks.] ''The Columbus Dispatch'' December 13, 2009.
National Weather Service, [http://water.weather.gov/ahps2/hydrograph.php?gage=dbvo1&wfo=iln Big Darby Creek at Darbyville.]

Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

rivers-of-union-county,-ohio rivers-of-madison-county,-ohio rivers-of-franklin-county,-ohio rivers-of-pickaway-county,-ohio rivers-of-ohio wild-and-scenic-rivers-of-the-united-states

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