Blues Creek is located in the northwesternmost section of Gainesville, just south of Turkey Creek. The watershed rests on the city/county boundary. This creek is largely agricultural and residential and also has conservation and recreation lands in its watershed. Some places to visit this creek include the beautiful San Felasco Hammock Preserve State Park where you can walk, run or bike on scenic trails. Another place to visit this creek in the near future will be the Blues Creek Ravine property, recently acquired by the Alachua Conservation Trust. This beautiful property is slated to be opened to the public with walking trails and interpretive signs soon.

Do you live near Blues Creek? Here’s what you can do to keep your water clean and the creek healthy:

Remember that all of our creeks, one way or another, make their way to the aquifer from which we get our drinking water. The fact that the creeks eventually make their way into the giant “well” from which we draw our drinking water supply is a good reason, among many, to protect them. Increased impervious area and decreased riparian buffers lead to more runoff going into the creeks during storm events. Runoff from yards and driveways carries pollutants like automobile fluids and wastes, detergents, fertilizers, pesticides, household chemicals, pet wastes, and plain trash down the stormdrains into the creeks. Even organic yard wastes – leaves, cuttings and landscape detritus - can overload the creek system. If you ever wondered where those storm drains actually drain to, the creek is your answer. In Gainesville, the runoff can carry considerable pollution into our treasured waterways, and it does.

You can help - keep pollutants off the streets; change your oil and dispose of it sensibly, keep up the maintenance on your vehicles to prevent leaks, use pesticides and fertilizers minimally if at all, dispose of pet waste hygienically, and put trash where it belongs! If you prevent pollution from entering the aquifer, you will be doing your part to protect the health of your community.

If you are lucky enough to live on a creek, you can maintain a healthy riparian buffer with native landscaping to effectively filter pollutants from the roadways. You can sign up for a creek cleanup with Adopt-A-Waterway, or participate in our Watershed Action Volunteer program teaching kids about watersheds, or learn to landscape a Florida Friendly Yard. All of these efforts will help to protect the creeks from pollution.

Blues Creek, Gainesville, Florida